Dublin named sixth-best city in the world – but there’s one major catch

The capital falls drastically when housing prices is taken into account.

The capital has climbed seven spots on latest Oxford Economics Global Cities Index, which ranks the world's 1,000 largest cities across a range of factors including economic strength, human capital, quality of life, the environment and governance.

Dublin was only bet out by New York, London, Paris, Seattle and San Francisco on the overall rankings, firmly solidifying the capital inside the global top 10.

However, when the digging a little deeper into the figures, the picture becomes considerably more complicated.

The Good

One of the capital's biggest strengths is its environmental performance.

Dublin ranks ninth globally for environment, with places like Honolulu, Wellington and Stockholm coming in ahead of it.

For perspective, Dublin’s ninth-place ranking for the environment is particularly impressive, putting it ahead of every city ranked above it in the overall table.

The factors in things like pollution, climate and environmental performance.

The capital also ranks 12th globally for economics and 35th for human capital, with its strong universities, highly skilled workforce and economic activity helping to boost its overall position.

The Bad

Despite being sixth in the overall rankings, Dublin falls all the way down to 90th place when it comes to quality of life, with one of the biggest factors dragging it down being something Dubliners will be very familiar with.

High housing costs are a major challenge for the city, with the issue weighing heavily on its quality-of-life performance as the city sits in the bottom quarter for housing affordability globally.

So, in other words, while Dublin is doing exceptionally well at attracting businesses, workers and investment, actually affording a place to live remains a serious problem.

The Reality

According to Oxford Economics, the index is designed to look beyond the overall table, measuring a city's structural strengths and weaknesses as well as their future potential.

And, when it comes to Dublin, the findings paint a picture of two very different cities: A globally competitive capital that excels in areas such as the economy and environment, but struggles with one of the most fundamental measures of a successful city; whether people can actually afford to live there.

2026 Oxford Economics Global Cities Index ranking

1. New York
2. London
3. Paris
4. Seattle
5. San Francisco
6. Dublin
7. Boston
8. San Jose
9. Tokyo
10. Zurich
11. Oslo
12. Los Angeles
13. Sydney
14. Washington
15. Stockholm
16. Melbourne
17. Dallas
18. Copenhagen
19. Munich
20. Toronto