The world’s best cities in 2026: London second, Dublin sixth, Toronto twentieth

Every year a few “world’s best cities” lists appear, and every year they start an argument. This year the Oxford Economics Global Cities Index puts London second and Dublin sixth.

If you are thinking about emigrating, lists like this are tempting. Before you pick a city off the back of its rank, it is worth knowing where the numbers come from and what they do not measure.

What the index measures

Oxford Economics assesses the world’s 1,000 largest cities and scores each one across five areas: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance.

“Human capital” is the heading that matters most here and gets explained least. It looks at the skills, education and diversity of a city’s population — which is, precisely, what migrants bring to a city.

The top ten in 2026

London is second overall, and first on one measure

London sits behind New York with an overall score of 98.8. The more interesting number is elsewhere: it scores 100 for human capital — the highest possible.

The reason is not mysterious. Close to 40% of London’s residents were born outside the United Kingdom. A city that draws its workforce from everywhere has no real competition on that measure.

Its weakest area is quality of life, at 77. Expensive housing, long commutes and daily pressure all show up in that one figure. If London is your destination, hold both numbers at once: the city is excellent for work and expensive to live in.

Dublin came sixth, but not for the reason usually given

Dublin is normally explained through its skilled workforce and the big technology employers. The scores say something different.

Its overall score is 91.3. Its strongest areas are environment at 90.9 and governance at 90.8. Human capital is 72.5 — its weakest category of the five.

So what carried Dublin to sixth is cleaner air, climate planning and the quality of how the city is run, not the size of its skilled workforce. That distinction matters if you are weighing Dublin against somewhere like London.

Where Canadian cities sit

No Canadian city is in the top ten. Toronto is 20th and Vancouver 24th.

That is not a poor result. Out of 1,000 cities assessed, 20th places Toronto in the top two per cent, in the same band as Munich, Amsterdam and Berlin.

European cities in the top 30

If Europe is your destination, that table shows one thing clearly: the small northern cities punch well above their size. Oslo, Copenhagen and Helsinki are not large, but they score heavily on environment and governance.

How much should these ranks matter to you?

Here it is worth being blunt. The index measures the city. It does not measure your case.

Among the things it does not capture at all:

• Whether you can actually obtain a visa for that country.
• Whether your field and work history are in demand in that city.
• Cost of living measured against the income you would really earn.
• How long the route to permanent residence takes.

One example makes the point. London is second in the world, but the United Kingdom’s work visa conditions are harder for many applicants than Canada’s. A city’s rank does not change that.

So take from these lists what they are good for. They are useful for understanding cities. They are not sufficient for choosing an immigration route.

In short

This year’s index puts London second, Dublin sixth and Toronto twentieth. Behind each rank sit five different measures, and every city is strong on some and weak on others.

If you are weighing several destinations, go to the measure that matters for your life rather than the overall rank. For a young professional, human capital and economics. For a family with children, quality of life and environment. Two people can read the same table and reach two different answers, correctly.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and it describes published official rules rather than any individual case.