WELL according to the latest rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit, those who live in Melbourne should feel lucky.

Or maybe Melbourians are taking it for granted.

Melbourne remains the third most liveable city in the world, and just 2.5 percentage points short of perfection according to the rankings.

Ranking 140 global cities on 30 criteria covering stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education and infrastructure, the think tank of The Economist magazine gives Melbourne a score of 97.5 out of a possible 100.

Winter Olympics host Vancouver remains No. 1 , scoring 98.0, despite its unfortunate lack of snow, while Vienna was ranked second with 97.9.

Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, was judged the most unliveable city in the survey, with a total score of just 37.5.

Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, tied with Algiers as the second worst, followed by Port Moresby.

Half of the top 10 cities come from lands Down Under. Sydney was seventh, Perth and Adelaide equal eighth and Auckland 10th (96.1).

Canada had three of the top five cities, with Toronto ranked fourth and Calgary fifth. London was ranked 54th with a score of 88.4. European cities were ranked the most liveable by region but only Vienna and Helsinki (sixth) made the top 10.

It surely makes you think sometimes. Those who love to travel and those who are always pouring backlash onto Melbourne when it is judged the third most liveable city in the world.

Where else would you want to be? Maybe Vancouver for the Winter Olympics and that’s about it.