Perth was one of the biggest improvers in the latest global liveability index but ranked well behind Melbourne and Sydney.
Perth has been ranked as the twelfth most liveable city in the world, after moving up from 33rd one year earlier.
The London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, which compiles the annual ranking, said Perth was one of the biggest improvers.
It had an equal ranking with Adelaide, which moved up from 19th position.
Melbourne and Sydney were also big improvers and finished third and fourth respectively.
The southern capital pipped its northern rival because of a slightly higher ranking for culture and environment.
The EIU attributed the gain in all Australian cities to a shift towards normality after the lifting of COVID restrictions.
Melbourne was given a score of 97.7 out of 100, while Sydney scored 97.4 and Perth and Adelaide scored 95.9.
Brisbane was a little lower, ranking 16th overall.
Perth’s highest-ever ranking was in 2021 when it was sixth. That was a time when many European cities were in the depths of the COVID pandemic and were marked down accordingly.
The Austrian city of Vienna retained its ranking as the world’s most liveable city.
It scored a perfect 100 points on four criteria - stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure - and 93.5 points on the fifth criteria of culture and environment.
“The city continues to offer an unsurpassed combination of stability, good infrastructure, strong education and healthcare services, and plenty of culture and entertainment, with one of its few downsides being a relative lack of major sporting events,” the EIU said.
“The same is true of Copenhagen, another frequent high performer that has kept its position in second place from last year.”
Damascus (Syria) and Tripoli (Libya) are still at the bottom of the list, held back by social unrest, terrorism and conflict.
The EIU said the biggest global themes were the shift towards normality after COVID and incremental improvements in liveability made by many developing countries.
As a result, the average index score across all 172 cities in the survey reached 76.2 out of 100, the highest score in 15 years.
On the negative side, the EIU noted a decline in stability.
“In many cities, such as Athens (Greece), stability scores have fallen this year because of greater civil unrest,” it said.
“Elsewhere, inflation, dissatisfaction with working conditions and occasional shortages of goods have sparked wage strikes and protests.
“In France, for example, protests over pension reforms have dented its cities’ ranks.
“Other countries, from Israel and South Africa to Bangladesh and Peru, have also seen waves of protests fuelled by high petrol and food prices or allegations of government corruption.”
