Vienna has held off Melbourne to retain the top spot on the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index for 2019, further strengthening its reputation as the world's most pleasant city, while the "yellow vests" protests hurt Paris' score.

Vienna and Melbourne have been neck and neck in the EIU survey for years, but the Austrian capital also regularly tops a larger ranking of cities by quality of life compiled by consulting firm Mercer.

The gap between the two cities -- of 0.7 point out of 100, with Vienna scoring 99.1 -- was unchanged in the 2019 ranking published Wednesday, as were the cities in the top 10, though Sydney closed in on its old rival.

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