Germany named 8th-best country for quality of life

Germany has been named the eighth-best country for quality of life, and one southern German city has been named among the top 10 cities for quality of life internationally.

Numbeo Quality of Life Index 2026 

The annual Numbeo ranking compares 89 countries across the world, looking at a range of factors that determine the highest quality of life. The countries were compared across categories such as purchasing power, pollution, housing affordability, cost of living, safety, healthcare quality, commute times and climate.

In 2026, the Netherlands claimed the number one spot in the world, with Denmark and Luxembourg following close behind. At the bottom of the ranking are Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nigeria.

The Quality of Life Index doesn’t only compare countries, but also takes a look at cities. Six Dutch cities made it into the top 10 for the ranking of global cities, with five of them claiming the top five spots. The Hague was named the best city in the world for quality of life, followed by Utrecht and Eindhoven.

Life in Germany, it’s eighth best

Despite what we all might think and feel day in and day out, in the grand scheme of things, life in Germany is pretty good. If you find yourself constantly complaining anyway, well done, this is very German of you.

Germany performed best in the climate sub-index of the overall ranking (82,9 points), though the international bar is pretty low in that department. According to Climate Action Tracker, a research group which monitors greenhouse gas emissions, the CDU/CSU-SPD government’s current climate policy is unlawful and is “setting the course for more emissions, new fossil fuels subsidies and not enough ambition for renewables and transport”. 

The healthcare index was the federal republic’s second-best-performing sub-index, scoring a total of 72,4 points. According to recent figures from the Federal Ministry of Health, people with statutory health insurance in Germany wait an average of 42 days to get an appointment with a specialist doctor, up from 33 days in 2019. The government hopes a reform taking effect in 2028 will reduce these waiting times. 

But relatively speaking, things are still pretty good, and apparently they are particularly good in Nuremberg! The second-largest city in Bavaria was named the 10th-best city in the world for quality of life and performed well in almost every sub-index, bar “cost of living”, in which it scored “moderate”.

According to Numbeo, the cost of living in Nuremberg e.g. buying beers, restaurant food and supermarket shopping, is 0,5 percent less expensive than in Berlin, while rents in Nuremberg are an average of 36 percent lower than in the capital.

10 best countries and cities for quality of life

In all, here are the top 10 countries for quality of life in 2026:

1. The Netherlands
2. Denmark
3. Luxembourg
4. Oman
5. Switzerland
6. Finland
7. Austria
8. Germany
9. Iceland
10. Norway

And the top 10 cities:

1. The Hague, the Netherlands
2. Utrecht, the Netherlands
3. Eindhoven, the Netherlands
4. Groningen, the Netherlands
5. Rotterdam, the Netherlands
6. Luxembourg, Luxembourg
7. Vienna, Austria
8. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
9. Gent, Belgium
10. Nuremburg, Germany

For more information and to see the full ranking, visit the Numbeo website.