Melbourne has topped 140 rivals to be crowned the most liveable city in the world.

For the second year in a row, Melbourne has been ranked as the best place to live in the Global Liveability Survey, taking into account healthcare, education, infrastructure, culture and crime.

Adelaide climbed the rankings to fifth place, outperforming Sydney and Perth.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says it is great news for Melbourne.

"Overall it is a remarkable testament to our remarkable city and I think we should be very proud of that," he said.

The world's top 10 most liveable cities: 1. Melbourne 2. Vienna, Austria 3. Vancouver, Canada 4. Toronto, Canada 5. Calgary, Canada 5. Adelaide 7. Sydney 8. Helsinki, Finland 9. Perth 10. Auckland, New Zealand

"Too often, even in our own wonderful city, it's a bit easy to find the things that we think have gone wrong.

"What this tells us is that on a world scale, that there isn't a more liveable city and I think that's a great outcome for our city."

Councillor Doyle says the survey adds to Melbourne's marketing potential.

"It's something that has a direct spin-off, not just for our hospitality and tourism but for international students," he said.

"People look for destinations, and it's a very competitive world for those international students, so there are all sorts of ways that we can weave this into the remarkable narrative about Melbourne, when we go overseas or when we are locally beating the drum for our city."

Brisbane was number 20.