Karachi remains near bottom of EIU global liveability index

KARACHI: Karachi has again been placed among the world’s least liveable cities, ranking 170th out of 173 cities in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Global Liveability Index 2026.

The index, released last week, assesses cities across indicators including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. According to the EIU’s methodology, the ranking measures the challenges a location presents to an individual’s lifestyle.

Karachi recorded an overall score of 43 out of 100, placing it above only Dhaka, Tripoli and Damascus. The city posted weak results across most categories, with education as its strongest area. Its category-wise scores were 20 for stability, 54 for healthcare, 36 for culture and environment, 75 for education, and 52 for infrastructure.

Images accompanying the report highlighted a range of urban problems linked to the city’s low ranking. They showed work under way on Karachi’s Red Line BRT along dug-up roads, motorists and motorcyclists moving through broken and partially excavated streets, and long traffic jams on damaged corridors.

Other photographs documented waste accumulation in a nullah and on roadsides, as well as residents dealing with basic utility issues. The images also showed people buying and carrying gas cylinders, and roads and public spaces in darkness during electricity outages.

The visual record presented a snapshot of the infrastructure, sanitation, traffic and utility challenges that continue to affect daily life in Pakistan’s largest city, as reflected in its standing on the EIU index.