Melbourne has been named the world's most liveable city for the fourth year in a row, by the Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability survey of 140 cities.

The survey rated cities out of 100 in the areas of healthcare, education, stability, culture and environment and infrastructure.

Melbourne received an overall score of 97.5 out of 100, scoring a perfect rating for healthcare, education and infrastructure.

Adelaide, Sydney and Perth also made it to the top 10 of the list, with ratings of 96.6, 96.1 and 95.9 respectively.

Most liveable cities: 1. Melbourne, Australia 97.5 2. Vienna, Austria 97.4 3. Vancouver, Canada 97.3 4. Toronto, Canada 97.2 5. Adelaide, Australia 96.6 6. Calgary, Canada 96.6 7. Sydney, Australia 96.1 8. Helsinki, Finland 96.0 9. Perth, Australia 95.9 10. Auckland, New Zealand 95.7

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said he was delighted with Melbourne's results.

"It's terrific to know that we scored the perfect score in healthcare, education, infrastructure and sport," Dr Napthine said.

"This is a real vindication of what we're doing in Melbourne and Victoria to make this state the best state in the world."

Australia's largest city, Sydney, achieved a perfect score in most areas, but was let down in the category of stability (90) and culture and environment (90.4).

Around the world, Melbourne narrowly beat Vienna, in Austria, which scored 97.4 per cent, and Vancouver in Canada, which rated 97.3 for the top spot.

Melbourne attracting more overseas visitors: Premier

Dr Napthine said Melbourne has been attracting more visitors from overseas.

"The figures from Melbourne Airport show a 15 per cent increase year-on-year in international visitation, our tourism is going through the roof, our attraction of major conferences is exceeding all expectations."

Dr Napthine said musicals, art exhibitions and sports events add to the quality of life in Melbourne.

"All of those things make our life richer and stronger in Melbourne and Victoria, and that's why we win these awards," he said.

A rating between 80 and 100 was given where a city had "few, if any, challenges to living standards", according to the report.

The report noted that Melbourne's low murder rate had contributed to the city's liveability.

"Although crime rates are perceived as rising in Australia, especially given the highly-publicised occurrences of 'king hit' attacks being reported, Victoria, where Melbourne is located, had a murder rate of just 3.1 per 100,000 population in 2012/13," the report said.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the gong was a great accolade for the city.

"I would say this year, the focus we've had is around safety, around sustainability, and around smart growth, particularly infrastructure," Councillor Doyle said.

"But obviously, the high scores in healthcare and education and particularly pleasing as well."

Damascus in Syria was the lowest scoring city in the survey, with an overall score of 30.5.

Also at the bottom end of the table was Dhaka in Bangladesh with 38.7 and Port Moresby, in Papua New Guinea and Lagos in Nigeria, both scoring 38.9.