World-wide quality of living
survey  United Kingdom  London, 10 April
2006
- Zurich scores highest for
quality of living, Baghdad ranks lowest
- Cities in Canada, Europe and
Australia dominate the top of the rankings
- Honolulu is the highest
ranking city in the US; Houston is the lowest
- London remains at position 39;
Birmingham and Glasgow both climb one place to joint 55th position
Zurich ranks as the world’s top
city for quality of living, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource
Consulting. The city scores 108.2 and is only marginally ahead of Geneva, which
scores 108.1, while Vancouver follows in third place with a score of 107.7. In
contrast, Baghdad is the lowest ranking city in the survey, scoring just
14.5.
The analysis is part of an annual World-wide Quality of Living Survey,
covering more than 350 cities, to help governments and multinational companies
place employees on international assignments. Each city is based on an
evaluation of 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and
environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport, and
other public services. Cities are ranked against New York as the base city,
which has an index score of 100.
“When multinational companies
set up expatriate assignments they have to provide attractive reward packages to
compensate employees for any negative changes to their quality of living,”
Yvonne Sonsino, Principal at Mercer, commented. “Moving abroad can be a big
upheaval for expatriates and their families, so international assignments tend
to carry large price tags, particularly if they are in cities with low living
standards facing political unrest or terrorist threats.” She added: “Many
companies use benchmark data to help them structure pay deals at the right
level.”
Europe and the Middle
East
Almost
half the top 30 scoring cities are in Western Europe. In this region, Vienna
follows Zurich and Geneva in 4th position with a score of 107.5. Other
highly-rated cities include Düsseldorf (107.2), Frankfurt (107.0) and Munich
(106. in positions 6, 7 and 8 respectively. Athens remains the lowest scoring
city in Western Europe, scoring 86.8 at position 79.
London is the UK’s highest
ranking city and is stable at position 39 (score 101.2). The two other UK cities
covered in the survey are Birmingham and Glasgow, which both score 98.3 and
climb one place to joint 55th position.
Dublin has dropped two places to
24th position, scoring 103.8, mainly due to increased traffic congestion.
As
predicted, cities in Eastern Europe such as Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague,
Vilnius, Tallinn and Warsaw continue to benefit from incremental score increases
and are gradually climbing the rankings.
“The standard of living in many
Eastern European cities is gradually improving, as the countries that most
recently joined the EU attract greater investment,” commented Slagin Parakatil,
Senior Researcher at Mercer. “Yet cities such as Dubai may still offer a wider
variety of facilities demanded by expatriates – for example, well-connected
international airports and better opportunities for recreation and leisure
activities –
compared to many Eastern European cities.”
Positions for most cities in
Europe and the Middle East are generally unchanged, with the exception of Cairo
which has tumbled nine places to position 131 and scores 71.2 due to the
political turmoil and terrorist attacks in the city and surrounding area.
Baghdad ranks as the least
attractive city for expatriates for a third consecutive year, with a score of
14.5.
Americas
Honolulu, the highest ranking city in the U.S., drops two
positions to 27th with a score of 103.3. San Francisco remains at 28th position
and scores 103.2. Boston, Washington, Chicago and Portland follow in positions
36, 41, 41 and 43 respectively (scores 101.9, 100.4, 100.4 and 100.3) while
Houston remains the lowest ranking city in the U.S. at position 68 (score 95.4).
Overall, U.S. cities continue to slip slightly or remain stable in the rankings,
except Chicago which has moved up 11 places due to decreased crime rates.
“Economies in the developed
world tend to be relatively stable overall. Fluctuations in the quality of
living in these regions are usually driven by factors such as increased air
pollution, crime rates and traffic congestion, or external events like
terrorism, disease outbreaks or natural disasters,” said Mr. Parakatil.
In South America, scores vary
considerably due to differences in economic and political stability.
“Argentina’s steady economic recovery is likely to push its cities up in the
rankings in the next few years,” commented Mr. Parakatil.
Asia-Pacific
Auckland and
Wellington have both moved up the rankings from 8th to 5th and 14th to 12th
places respectively, mainly due to strong internal stability relative to other
cities, while Sydney remains at position 9 with a score of 106.5.
In Asia, Singapore ranks 34th
(score 102.5) followed by Tokyo, Japan’s highest scoring city, at position 35
(score 102.3). Hong Kong’s modern and efficient infrastructure, including its
airport (which is considered one of best in the world), has pushed it up from
70th to 68th position with a score of 95.4.
The top-ranking city in China
is Shanghai in 103rd place (score 80.1). “Beijing and Shanghai are on the rise
and should experience rapid improvements in quality of living in the coming
years. This is mainly due to greater international investment driven by the
availability and lower cost of labour and manufacturing expertise,” explained
Mr. Parakatil.
Though cities in India
generally rank lower than their Chinese counterparts, they are also showing
signs of development in the region.
“The quality of living in
Indian cites such as Mumbai and Bangalore is increasing slowly but steadily,
primarily due to India’s improved political relationships with other countries,”
said Mr. Parakatil. “Investment from multinationals setting up operations in
India may prompt further improvements, boost economic growth and contribute to
economic stability. In turn, this will encourage the local authorities to focus
on improving quality of living standards.”
Other low-ranking cities for
overall quality of living include Congo in Brazzaville (score 30.3) and Bangui
in the Central African Republic and Khartoum in Sudan (30.6 and 31.7).
<<QOL_Survey2006_table.pdf>> <<COL_top50.pdf>>
Mercer has released a new report called
Managing Quality of Living for
Expatriates, which provides
information to enable HR professionals and others to understand the importance
of assessing worldwide standards of living, including personal safety and
security, health issues, cleanliness and pollution, and transportation. More
than 100 cities have been selected from Western and Eastern Europe, North and
South America, Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim. For more
information, please visit www.mercerhr.com/qualityofliving. Copies of individual city reports can
also be purchased from this site. |
