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Mercer's 2010 Quality of Living survey highlights - Global

Last updated: 26 May 2010

 

  

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

Global overview

Regional focus

 

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  • European cities dominate the top 10 ranking for Quality of living, with Canada, New Zealand and Australia also featuring

 

  • Vienna scores highest for overall quality of living, Baghdad the lowest

 

  • Calgary is the world's top in our Eco-city ranking, followed by Honolulu, with Ottawa and Helsinki in joint 3rd place

 

Worldwide top 50 cities: Quality of living ranking
Worldwide top 50 cities: Eco-city ranking

 

 

2010 Quality of Living reports now available
Learm more on the report's content Buy Mercer's 2010 Quality of Living report

Summary

We sat down with Slagin Parakatil to discuss the Quality of Living Survey results for 2010

(Video 4.32 min)

The global financial crisis was the issue that created the largest impact on the business climate in 2009. The crisis led to either a recession or an economic slowdown in the majority of nations in the world. Not only did it lead to significant changes in the banking sector in many countries, the financial crisis also helped shape the challenging global business environment that currently exists.

With governments having been forced to revise their investment and development activities, we expected to see limited improvement in certain quality-of-living factors, such as recreation and public services. However, a few factors had a role in how this played out. For example, the global financial crisis has not had a uniform impact on all countries, and government reactions have also been varied. In addition, many developmental activities initiated in previous years have only just started to make an impact on the daily lives of expatriates in the regions where these activities have been launched. Furthermore, limitations on personal freedom and relationships with other countries often are not related to the state of the economy.

Considering all these factors and issues, it is not surprising that we witnessed the usual mix of increases and decreases in quality of living in the past year.

Top 5 cities worldwide

Top 5 cities: Quality of living ranking Top 5 cities: Eco-city ranking
  • Vienna, Austria (1st)
  • Zurich, Switzerland (2nd)
  • Geneva, Switzerland (3rd)
  • Vancouver, Canada (tied 4th)
  • Auckland, New Zealand (tied 4th)
  • Calgary, Canada (1st)
  • Honolulu, United States (2nd)
  • Ottawa, Canada (tied 3rd)
  • Helsinki, Finland (tied 3rd)
  • Wellington, New Zealand (5th)

Top 5 cities by region

Quality of living ranking

Americas Asia Pacific Europe Middle East & Africa
  • Vancouver (4th)
  • Ottawa (14th)
  • Toronto (16th)
  • Montreal (21st)
  • Calgary (28th)
  • Auckland (4th)
  • Sydney (10th)
  • Wellington (12th)
  • Melbourne (18th)
  • Perth (21st)
  • Vienna (1st)
  • Zurich (2nd
  • Geneva (3rd)
  • Dusseldorf (6th)
  • Frankfurt (tied 7th)
  • Munich (tied 7th)
  • Dubai (75th)
  • Port Louis (82nd)
  • Abu Dhabi (83rd)
  • Cape Town (86th)
  • Tunis (94th)

Eco-city ranking

Americas Asia Pacific Europe Middle East & Africa
  • Calgary (1st)
  • Honolulu (2nd)
  • Ottawa (3rd)
  • Minneapolis (6th)
  • Vancouver (tied 13th)
  • Montreal (tied 13th)
  • Wellington (5th)
  • Adelaide (7th)
  • Kobe (9th)
  • Perth (12th)
  • Auckland (13th)
  • Helsinki (3rd)
  • Copenhagen (8th)
  • Oslo (tied 9th)
  • Stockholm (tied 9th)
  • Nurnberg (tied 13th)
  • Bern (tied 13th)
  • Cape Town (30th)
  • Victoria (38th)
  • Muscat (48th)
  • Johannesburg (54th)
  • Abu Dhabi (tied 65th)
  • Dubai (tied 65th)

 

 

 

2010 Quality of Living reports now available
Learm more on the report's content Buy Mercer's 2010 Quality of Living report

 

The information and data obtained through the Quality of Living Reports (the “Reports”) are for information purposes only and are intended for use by multi-national organizations and government agencies that transfer employees from one country to another. They are not designed or intended to use as the basis for foreign investment or tourism. In no event will Mercer be liable to for any decision made or action taken in reliance of the results obtained through the use of, or the information and/or data contained in or provided by, the Reports. While the Reports have been prepared based upon sources, information and systems believed to be reliable and accurate, they are provided on an “as-is” basis, and Mercer accepts no responsibility/liability for the validity/accuracy (or otherwise) of the resources/data used to compile the Reports. Mercer and its affiliates make no representations or warranties with respect to the Reports, and disclaim all express, implied and statutory warranties of any kind, including, but not limited to, representations and implied warranties of quality, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose.

 

  

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Related resources

Mercer Quality of living - International city benchmarking

Download presentation (pdf)