Auckland has been knocked out of the top 10 most liveable cities in the world.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s annual Global Liveability report ranks 140 cities on their urban quality of life based on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and environment.
Each city is scored out of 100 on those five factors and is then given an overall score, which is used to rank them in relation to other entrants.
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In 2016 and 2017, Auckland was ranked eighth by the EIU.
But it's dropped down four spots to 12th place in the 2018 report released on Tuesday, making it the first year New Zealand hasn't made the top 10 since 2009.
Despite the fall, Auckland's overall score has actually slightly improved since the previous report.
Regular entries Perth, Helsinki and Hamburg were also knocked out due to Japanese newcomers Osaka and Tokyo, which took out third and tied-seventh place respectively, as well as Sydney (fifth place) and Copenhagen (ninth place).
It's the first time any non-Western cities have made the top 10 in the history of the EIU's reports, the first of which was published in 2002. The rankings have been criticised in the past for being Eurocentric and equating liveability with speaking English.
Osaka and Tokyo rocketed to the top largely thanks to declining crime rates and improved public transport, the report summary says.
Melbourne has also been demoted, losing its number one spot to Vienna by just 0.7 percent after a seven-year winning streak. The Austrian capital has risen through the ranks because of a newfound stability across much of Europe after a large number of terrorist attacks in recent years, the EIU says.
The report also includes the 10 least liveable cities in the world, which in 2018 includes Tripoli (Libya), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) and Lagos (Nigeria). Syria's war-torn capital Damascus came in last.
The EIU's top 10 most liveable cities
1. Vienna
2. Melbourne
3. Osaka
4. Calgary
5. Sydney
6. Vancouver
7. Toronto (tied)
7. Tokyo (tied)
9. Copenhagen
10. Adelaide
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