The United Arab Emirates' Dubai has secured 13th place in the 2025 World's Best Cities Index, outranking major global cities, including Los Angeles, Toronto, Seoul and Milan, despite falling seven places from last year's rankings, according to Resonance Consultancy's annual report.

The Middle East continues to establish itself as a hub of innovation, cultural heritage, and economic opportunity, as reflected in the World’s Best Cities 2025 rankings. Cities from this region showcase a unique blend of ancient history and modern development, carving their place among global urban powerhouses.

“A magnet for visitors and investors alike, Dubai ranks #8 globally in both our Lovability and Prosperity indices, rankings that are driven by the city’s knack for record-breaking developments.”

The emirate achieved the highest number of Facebook check-ins by visitors and residents globally, demonstrating its continued appeal as a tourist and residential destination.

The rankings, which assess cities with populations over 1mn, introduced a perception element for the first time this year, based on an Ipsos survey of more than 22,000 people across 31 countries.

London retained its top position for the tenth consecutive year, while New York rose to second place, displacing Paris.

The rankings evaluate cities across three main metrics: liveability, lovability and prosperity, considering factors such as air quality, nightlife, GDP per capita and airport connectivity.

This new methodology affected several cities' positions, with regional competitor Doha dropping from 36th to 73rd place.

Doha, Qatar's capital and the only other Middle Eastern city in the top 100, secured the 73rd position overall. The city shows a striking contrast in its performance across different categories, achieving remarkable success in prosperity (9th) but ranking significantly lower in both liveability (216th) and lovability (204th).

Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Jeddah, along with the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi and Iran’s upmarket capital Tehran, were not included in the rankings.

The evaluation included data from sources such as Instagram and TripAdvisor, alongside traditional metrics like housing affordability, transport infrastructure, and green spaces. The report added it found its ranking via “Resonance’s proprietary Place Power™ on groups “age 25-44.”

According to the World's Best Cities Index the top ten cities are listed below:

1. London, UK

2. New York, USA

3. Paris, France

4. Tokyo, Japan

5. Singapore

6. Rome, Italy

7. Madrid, Spain

8. Barcelona, Spain

9. Berlin, Germany

10. Sydney, Australia