Auckland and Wellington have taken high honours in Mercer’s 2008 Quality of Life Survey.

New Zealand and Australian cities dominated the rankings for the Asia-Pacific region, with Auckland ranked the best city to live in, followed by Sydney in second place then Wellington, Melbourne and Perth.

Looking worldwide, Auckland came out as the world’s fifth best city to live in - behind Zurich, Vienna, Geneva and Vancouver. Wellington rated twelfth in the worldwide survey.

The Quality of Life Survey assesses 215 cities on 39 criteria including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety, health, education and transport.

For personal safety, Singapore was rated the best city in Asia-Pacific, followed by Auckland, Wellington, Katsuyama (Japan) and Omuta (Japan).

Mercer’s survey is conducted to help governments and businesses place employees on international assignments. The survey tends to focus on the biggest cities but Wellington made it into the survey by virtue of being New Zealand’s capital.

Top 50 cities Quality of Life

Base City: New York, US (=100)

Rank 2008 Rank 2007 City Country Index 2008 Index 2007
1

1

 Zurich Switzerland 108 108.1
2 3 Vienna Austria 107.9

107.7
2 2

Geneva

 Switzerland 107.9 108.0
4 3 Vancouver Canada 107.6 107.7
5 5 Auckland

New Zealand

 107.3 107.3

6

 5 Dusseldorf Germany 107.2 107.3
7 8 Munich Germany

107

 106.9
7

7

 Frankfurt Germany 107 107.1
9 9 Bern Switzerland 106.5

106.5
10 9

Sydney

 Australia 106.3 106.5
11 11 Copenhagen Denmark 106.2 106.2
12 12 Wellington

New Zealand

 105.8 105.8

13

 13 Amsterdam The Netherlands 105.7 105.7
14 14 Brussels Belgium

105.4

 105.6
15

15

 Toronto Canada 105.3 105.4
16 16 Berlin Germany 105

105.2
17 17

Melbourne

 Australia 104.8 105.0
17 18 Luxembourg Luxembourg 104.8 104.8
19 18 Ottawa

Canada

 104.7 104.8

20

 20 Stockholm Sweden 104.5 104.7
21 21 Perth Australia

104.3

 104.5
22

22

 Montreal Canada 104.2 104.3
23 23 Nurnberg Germany 104.1

104.2
24 26

Oslo

 Norway 103.7 103.5
25 27 Dublin Ireland 103.5 103.3
25 24 Calgary

Canada

 103.5 103.6

27

 24 Hamburg Germany 103.4 103.6
28 27 Honolulu, HI United States

103.1

 103.3
29

29

 San Francisco, CA United States 103 103.2
29 30 Helsinki Finland 103

103.1
29 30

Adelaide

 Australia 103 103.1
32 34 Singapore Singapore 102.9 102.5
32 33 Paris

France

 102.9 102.7

34

 32 Brisbane Australia 102.4 102.8
35 35 Tokyo Japan

102.2

 102.3
36

36

 Lyon France 101.9 101.9
37 36 Boston, MA United States 101.8

101.9
38 38

Yokohama

 Japan 101.6 101.7
38 39 London United Kingdom 101.6 101.2
40 40 Kobe

Japan

 100.9 101.0

41

 49 Milan Italy 100.8 99.9
42 41 Barcelona Spain

100.6

 100.6
43

42

 Madrid Spain 100.5 100.5
44 44 Washington, DC United States 100.3

100.4
44 42

Osaka

 Japan 100.3 100.5
44 47 Lisbon Portugal 100.3 100.1
44 44 Chicago, IL

United States

 100.3 100.4

48

 46 Portland, OR United States 100.2 100.3
49 48 New York City, NY United States

100

 100.0
50

49

 Seattle, WA United States 99.8 99.9

Top 50 cities: Personal safety

Rank 2008 City Country Index 2008
1 Luxembourg Luxembourg 131.4
2 Bern Switzerland 126.3
2 Geneva Switzerland

126.3
2 Helsinki

Finland

 126.3
2

Zurich

 Switzerland 126.3

6

 Vienna Austria 121.1
7 Oslo Norway 120.8
7 Stockholm Sweden 120.8
9 Singapore Singapore 120.2
10 Auckland New Zealand

119.4
10 Wellington

New Zealand

 119.4
12

Copenhagen

 Denmark 117.2

12

 Dusseldorf Germany 117.2
12 Frankfurt Germany 117.2
12 Munich Germany 117.2
12 Nurnberg Germany 117.2
17 Dublin Ireland

117
18 Katsuyama

Japan

 116.6
18

Omuta

 Japan 116.6

18

 Tsukuba Japan 116.6
18 Yokkaichi Japan 116.6
22 Amsterdam Netherlands 115.8
22 Calgary Canada 115.8
22 Montreal Canada

115.8
22 Ottawa

Canada

 115.8
22

Toronto

 Canada 115.8

22

 Vancouver Canada 115.8
28 Brussels Belgium 114.3
29 Melbourne Australia 113.2
29 Perth Australia 113.2
29 Sydney Australia

113.2
32 Papeete

French Polynesia

 112.8
33

Abu Dhabi

 United Arab Emirates 112

34

 Ljubljana Slovenia 111.7
35 Kobe Japan 111.5
35 Nagoya Japan 111.5
35 Osaka Japan 111.5
35 Tokyo Japan

111.5
35 Yokohama

Japan

 111.5
40

Berlin

 Germany 111.4

41

 Hamburg Germany 110.1
41 Leipzig Germany 110.1
43 Glasgow United Kingdom 109.9
43 Hong Kong Hong Kong 109.9
45 Lisbon Portugal

108.7
45 Prague

Czech Republic

 108.7
47

Dubai

 United Arab Emirates 108.3

48

 Bratislava Slovakia 108
49 Adelaide Australia 107.6
49 Brisbane Australia 107.6
50 Nassau Bahamas 107.1