A new report has revealed the best cities in the world for 2025, including the most “lovable”.

The 2025 World’s Best Cities report surveyed more than 22,000 people in 30 countries to rank 270 of the world’s largest cities on three unique categories; livability, lovability and prosperity.

Market research company Ipsos collaborated with marketing consultancy Resonance to produce the report, which found London to be the best city in the world for 2025.

London is a favourite destination for long-haul Kiwi travellers. Photo / Grant Bradley

London has been named the best city for 10 consecutive years, including 2025. This year, the report said its “resilient spirit and unmatched global appeal” mean it continues to be a desirable city, despite “the complexities of a post-Brexit era, geopolitical uncertainties and economic challenges”.

London won the overall ranking and ranked top in seven of the 28 subcategories such as nightlife, Instagram hashtags and museums.

New York was ranked second, followed by Paris, Tokyo and Singapore in fifth. Australia just made the top 10 list, with Sydney in 10th place.

Auckland praised for air quality

Auckland ranked 47th overall in the report. Photo / ATEED

Aotearoa didn’t make the top 10, or the top 20. Instead, it was ranked 47th.

Auckland was ranked the best city in the world for air quality and the sixth best for labour force participation.

“New Zealand’s largest and most cosmopolitan city balances modernity with natural beauty,” read the entry. It also said the renewed Britomart and Viaduct Harbour, as well as the new Commercial Bay area, have “transformed” the city’s downtown area.

It also called out the City Rail Link, saying it would “dramatically improve transit connectivity across the city” once it’s complete in 2026.

While it was the 16th most “livable” city, it was not particularly “lovable” or “prosperous”, ranking 69th and 99th, respectively.

Prosperity reflects the relative strength of human capital and was calculated using several metrics, such as GDP per capita, labour force participation, percentage of the population with a bachelor’s degree and poverty rate.

Auckland did rank sixth in labour force participation but seemingly performed poorly in the other metrics, relative to other major cities.

Europe scores high on ‘Lovability’

London was also rated the most ‘lovable’ city. “Lovability speaks to the relative vibrancy and quality of place of a city relative to its competitive set,” the report stated. Metrics for this category included the number of concerts, bars, clubs, attractions, and museums rated higher than four stars on Tripadvisor, plus the total number of restaurants, number of Instagram posts with the location hashtag, popularity on Google Trends and survey results from international respondents.

Berlin and other European cities have long been cultural hotspots for travellers and expats. Photo / 123rf

Of the 10 most “lovable” cities, most were in Europe, including Paris (2), Rome (5), Barcelona (6), Madrid (7) and Berlin (9).

The 2025 World’s Best Cities

1. London

2. New York

3. Paris

4. Tokyo

5. Singapore

6. Rome

7. Madrid

8. Barcelona

9. Berlin

10. Sydney

11. Amsterdam

12. San Francisco

13. Dubai

14. Los Angeles

15. Toronto

16. Seoul

17. Chicago

18. Vienna

19. Seattle

20. Milan