Despite recent security issues, social unrest, and unease about the region’s economic prospects, European cities still offer some of the world’s highest quality-of-living. That’s the main message to emerge from Mercer’s 18th annual Quality of Living survey. Vienna continues its reign in the top spot for overall quality of living, followed by Zurich (2nd), Auckland (3rd), and Munich (4th). Vancouver, in 5th place, is North America’s highest ranking city, and Singapore is the highest ranking Asian city (26th).
Mercer’s survey also identifies the personal safety ranking for the full list of cities – Luxembourg tops this list, followed by Bern, Helsinki, and Zurich – all tied in 2nd place. Safety, in particular, is a key factor for multinationals to consider when sending expatriate workers abroad, both because it raises concerns about the expat’s personal safety and because it has a significant impact on the cost of global compensation programmes.
Ellyn Karetnick, Head of Mercer’s International Mobility Practice in the UK, said:
‘Quality of living standards remain high across UK and European cities, making them attractive destinations for multinational businesses and their employees. In Europe and beyond terrorist attacks and incidences of civil unrest are closely monitored and analysed, and any impact on quality of living for expatriates is reflected in the rankings.’