Beirut Remains Among the World’s ‘Worst’ Cities in Terms of Quality of Life

 A view of the Beirut waterfront (Reuters)
A view of the Beirut waterfront (Reuters)
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Beirut Remains Among the World’s ‘Worst’ Cities in Terms of Quality of Life

 A view of the Beirut waterfront (Reuters)
A view of the Beirut waterfront (Reuters)

Beirut maintained its low ranking on the list of Arab and international cities in the Quality of Life index, despite recording slight progress in the cost of living, purchasing power, and residential rent allowances, which was offset by a failure to achieve any improvement in safety, pollution, and health care.
The Lebanese capital ranked 171 out of 178 cities in the world in the measurement of the quality of life index issued by Numbeo.

The results are drawn according to eight main indicators that measure the level of quality of life. They include the purchasing power index, the safety index, healthcare, and cost of living, the ratio of house price to income that reflects the affordability of housing, the traffic or travel time index, the pollution index, as well as the climate index.
Beirut recorded a score of 73.3 points, and was preceded in the Arab world by Cairo, which scored 75.9 points, while the Gulf cities occupied the best positions among Arab cities included in the index.
In parallel, Beirut emerged as the sixth most expensive Arab city compared to prices in New York City, according to field surveys conducted periodically by the same international institution. The Lebanese capital registered a cost of living index of 45.2 points, ranking it 113th in the world. New York City is adopted as a reference indicator for measurement.
Moreover, Beirut recorded a score of 16.9 on the residential rental price index, which means that rental prices there are 83 percent less expensive than in New York City.
The commodity price index reached 34 points, 66 percent less expensive than the reference city.
Prices in Lebanon increased in the period between mid-2019 and mid-2022, before returning to a decline in the statistical survey period between mid-2023 and mid-2024.
The rise in the cost of living index recorded in the previous measurement period, which approached 100 percent in mid-2022, reflected the severity of the economic and social repercussions produced by the economic and financial crisis and the drastic local currency devaluation against the US dollar.
However, the average index witnessed a significant decline to register 45 percent in the middle of 2023, then decreased to 45.2 in mid-2024, as a result of the decline in all indicators of the survey, including the local purchasing power index, which improved from 11.7 points in mid- 2022 to 12.3 points mid-2023, and then to 20.5 mid-2024.



Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
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Influential Far-right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu over Gaza War Policy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a "grave mistake" that he said would benefit the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel's military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his "next steps" but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition, Reuters reported.

Smotrich's comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.

"... the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas," Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as "logistical support for the enemy during wartime".

The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.

Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to UN estimates.

Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.

PRESSURE

Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.

The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.