The world's Happiest Cities have been announced – and Sydney ranked below other Australian capitals

In news that might not surprise Sydneysiders struggling to make ends meet and finding the housing market a major pain (in other words, a huge portion of us), Sydney didn’t crack the top 100 in this year’s Happy City Index. 

This annual review of 250 cities across the world takes into account thousands of quality of life factors across five categories: citizens, governance, environment, economy and mobility. Cities are then ranked by their total score and awarded gold, silver or bronze status. 

When it comes to Aussie cities, Brisbane (with its laid-back charm, good weather and lively music scene) took the highest spot – ranking as the 21st happiest city in the world.

Other Australian capital cities to trump Sydney were Melbourne, Perth and Hobart.

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So which city topped the whole list? The happiest city of all was found to be Aarhus in Denmark, followed by Zurich in Switzerland and Berlin in Germany. 

This year, 37 cities earned the prestigious title of 'Golden Happiness Cities', with European cities claiming the entire top 15. Minneapolis in the US was the only non-European city to make it into the top 20 (followed by Brissy).

Sydney ranked decently in environment areas (which looked at factors such as natural resource management and renewable energy) and governance areas (involving residents in the decision-making processes), and lower when it came to mobility (which looks at factors such as getting around the city on public transport or by car). Sydney may not have cracked the top 100, but considering the index ranks the world's "happiest" 250 cities, and we managed to rank within the top half of the list (with bronze status), the result is a positive one. 

Here are the happiest cities in Australia in 2024, according to the Happy City Index:

21. Brisbane
41. Melbourne
61. Perth
87. Hobart
116. Sydney

And here’s the world’s top 10 spots in the 2024 Happy City Index:

1. Aarhus, Denmark
2. Zurich, Switzerland
3. Berlin, Germany
4. Gothenburg, Sweden
5. Amsterdam, Netherlands
6. Helsinki, Finland
7. Bristol, UK
8. Copenhagen, Denmark
9. Geneva, Switzerland
10. Munich, Germany

Keen to explore the happy streets of Brisbane? Check out Time Out's Brisbane recommendations.

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