A UK health agency has analysed cities across the world and come up with a definitive ranking of the top places to live.

Two Australian cities feature prominently in the list, coming in second and 11th place, out of 44 cities.

The Healthy Lifestyles Cities Report used ten markers to decide if a city lent itself to health living.

In each city, researchers looked at the cost of a bottle of water, the pollution index score, how many outdoor activities were available, the number of takeaway restaurants, the cost of a monthly gym membership, the number of sunshine hours and the annual average hours worked.

To get a better idea of the city, they also examined the obesity levels, life expectancy and happiness levels of the country as a whole.

Netherlands capital city Amsterdam was a clear winner, with manageable obesity levels, more than 400 outdoor activities and the third highest happiness index.

In second place came Sydney, almost topping the charts with its sunshine hours, at 2636 hours.

However, Sydney wasnt as good as Amsterdam in terms of its annual average work hours - Sydney-siders work around 33 hours per week, while Dutch citizens work around 27 hours a week.

Melbourne came in 11th place, with a small amount of pollution and a relatively cheap gym membership - $66 a month.

Other European cities ranked highly, with Vienna, Stockholm and Copenhagen ranking third, fourth and fifth respectively.

In last place was Mexico City, in Mexico, with a low life expectancy, at 76 years, and also with high rates of pollution.

The research did not take each citys handling of the coronavirus into account.

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Sydney and Melbourne named in international Healthy Lifestyles Cities Report among best cities in the world - 7NEWS.com.au