World's Top 100 Most Livable Cities
A new Mercer study ranks cities by the quality of life they offer expatriate executives and their families across the world
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/livable_cities_worldwide/index.asp?sortCol=rank_2 007&sortOrder=1&pageNum=3&resultNum=90
What foreign postings are most coveted by expatriate executives? To find out, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which provides advice to multinational companies on international assignments, has come up with a global ranking of the world's most livable cities based on 39 key quality-of-life issues. They include political stability, currencyexchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing, the environment and public safety. Mercer collected the data between September and November of 2006 and considered 215 cities around the globe. Switzerland's main commercial and cultural center, Zurich, topped the list this year, followed by Geneva, and Vancouver and Vienna, which tied for third. To see how other cities fared, check out this interactive table.
Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
2007 RANK 2006 RANK CITY COUNTRY 2007 Index 2006 Index
1 2 3 3 5 5 7 8 9 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 20 21 22
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 20 21 22
ZURICH GENEVA VANCOUVER VIENNA AUCKLAND DUSSELDORF FRANKFURT MUNICH BERN SYDNEY COPENHAGEN WELLINGTON AMSTERDAM BRUSSELS TORONTO BERLIN MELBOURNE LUXEMBOURG OTTAWA STOCKHOLM PERTH MONTREAL
Switzerland Switzerland Canada Austria New Zealand Germany Germany Germany Switzerland Australia Denmark New Zealand The Netherlands Belgium Canada Germany Australia Luxembourg Canada Sweden Australia Canada
108.1 108.0 107.7 107.7 107.3 107.3 107.1 106.9 106.5 106.5 106.2 105.8 105.7 105.6 105.4 105.2 105.0 104.8 104.8 104.7 104.5 104.3
108.2 108.1 107.7 107.5 107.3 107.2 107.0 106.8 106.5 106.5 106.2 105.8 105.7 105.6 105.4 105.1 105.0 104.8 104.8 104.7 104.5 104.3
23 24 24 26 27 27 29 30 30 32 33 34 35 36 36 38 39 40 41 42 42 44 44 46 47 48 49 49 51 52 52 54 55
23 25 26 31 24 27 28 29 29 31 33 34 35 37 36 37 39 40 44 45 51 41 41 43 53 46 51 47 48 49 49 53 55
NURNBERG CALGARY HAMBURG OSLO DUBLIN HONOLULU, HI
Germany Canada Germany Norway Ireland United States
104.2 103.6 103.6 103.5 103.3 103.3 103.2 103.1 103.1 102.8 102.7 102.5 102.3 101.9 101.9 101.7 101.2 101.0 100.6 100.5 100.5 100.4 100.4 100.3 100.1 100.0 99.9 99.9 99.8 99.7 99.7 99.5 98.3
104.1 103.6 103.4 102.8 103.8 103.3 103.2 103.1 103.1 102.8 102.7 102.5 102.3 101.6 101.9 101.6 101.2 101.0 100.2 100.1 99.6 100.4 100.4 100.3 98.9 100.0 99.6 99.9 99.8 99.7 99.7 98.9 98.3
SAN FRANCISCO, CA United States ADELAIDE HELSINKI BRISBANE PARIS SINGAPORE TOKYO LYON BOSTON, MA YOKOHAMA LONDON KOBE BARCELONA MADRID OSAKA WASHINGTON, DC CHICAGO, IL PORTLAND, OR LISBON Australia Finland Australia France Singapore Japan France United States Japan United Kingdom Japan Spain Spain Japan United States United States United States Portugal
NEW YORK CITY, NY United States MILAN SEATTLE, WA LEXINGTON, KY PITTSBURGH, PA Italy United States United States United States
WINSTON SALEM, NC United States NAGOYA BIRMINGHAM Japan United Kingdom
55 55 55 59 60 61 62 63 64 64 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 80 82 83 83 85 85 87 88
55 55 55 59 60 62 63 64 65 61 66 68 68 67 68 72 73 71 74 75 76 77 79 78 80 85 84 81 81 83 86 89 92
TSUKUBA GLASGOW LOS ANGELES, CA CLEVELAND, OH MINNEAPOLIS, MN ROME MIAMI, FL YOKKAICHI DETROIT, MI ST. LOUIS, MO ATLANTA, GA LEIPZIG HOUSTON, TX OMUTA HONG KONG SAN JUAN PRAGUE KATSUYAMA BUDAPEST KUALA LUMPUR MONTEVIDEO PORT LOUIS ATHENS BUENOS AIRES LJUBLJANA DUBAI VILNIUS SANTIAGO TAIPEI CAPE TOWN WARSAW SEOUL ABU DHABI
Japan United Kingdom United States United States United States Italy United States Japan United States United States United States Germany United States Japan Hong Kong Puerto Rico Czech Republic Japan Hungary Malaysia Uruguay Mauritius Greece Argentina Slovenia United Arab Emirates Lithuania Chile Taiwan South Africa Poland South Korea United Arab Emirates
98.3 98.3 98.3 98.2 97.9 97.4 96.3 96.2 96.1 96.1 95.7 95.5 95.4 94.9 94.3 92.9 92.3 91.4 90.2 88.9 88.2 87.7 87.6 87.4 87.0 87.0 86.6 86.5 86.5 85.7 85.7 85.2 84.1
98.3 98.3 98.3 98.2 97.9 97.4 96.3 96.2 96.1 97.6 95.7 95.4 95.4 95.5 95.4 92.9 91.8 93.1 90.8 88.9 88.1 87.7 86.8 87.3 86.6 85.2 85.9 86.5 86.5 86.0 85.1 83.0 82.6
89
91
TALLINN
Estonia
83.7
82.8
90 87 JOHANNESBURG South Africa 83.3 84.0 Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
2007 RANK 2006 RANK CITY COUNTRY 2007 Index 2006 Index
91 92 92 94 95 96 97 97 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 116 118 119
88 98 90 94 94 94 97 93 102 103 99 100 101 104 105 106 111 111 107 110 113 114 115 108 116 121 118 117 123
LIMASSOL RIGA PANAMA CITY MONTERREY TUNIS VICTORIA PAPEETE PORT ELIZABETH BRATISLAVA SHANGHAI JOHOR BAHARU NOUMEA KAOHSIUNG BRASILIA TEL AVIV SAN JOSE ZAGREB BUCHAREST BANGKOK YEOCHUN (YOSU) ASUNCION NASSAU ULSAN SAO PAULO RIO DE JANEIRO BEIJING SOFIA QUITO CASABLANCA
Cyprus Latvia Panama Mexico Tunisia Seychelles French Polynesia South Africa Slovakia China Malaysia New Caledonia Taiwan Brazil Israel Costa Rica Croatia Romania Thailand South Korea Paraguay Bahamas South Korea Brazil Brazil China Bulgaria Ecuador Morocco
83.2 82.9 82.9 82.6 82.4 82.2 82.0 82.0 81.7 81.6 81.2 81.0 80.7 78.8 78.5 77.8 77.6 76.9 76.8 76.3 76.1 75.9 75.0 74.6 74.5 74.3 74.3 74.2 73.7
83.2 81.9 82.9 82.2 82.2 82.2 82.0 82.3 80.5 80.1 81.2 80.8 80.7 78.8 78.5 77.8 76.2 76.2 77.7 76.3 76.1 75.9 75.0 77.1 74.5 73.4 73.8 74.2 72.8
120 121 122 123 123 125 126 127 128 129 129 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152
122 108 124 125 118 127 129 130 128 126 131 133 132 134 135 136 120 138 139 137 141 140 142 143 145 147 144 158 150 145 148 150 156
LIMA ISTANBUL JERUSALEM MANAMA MANILA GUAYAQUIL MANAUS SANTO DOMINGO MEXICO CITY AMMAN CAIRO GUANGZHOU RAYONG KUWAIT CITY BLANTYRE NANJING COLOMBO LUSAKA KINGSTON LA PAZ GUATEMALA CITY CARACAS JAKARTA BOGOTA MEDELLIN SHENYANG DAKAR BELGRADE NEW DELHI SANTA CRUZ HO CHI MINH CITY MUMBAI SKOPJE
Peru Turkey Israel Bahrain Philippines Ecuador Brazil Dominican Republic Mexico Jordan Egypt China Thailand Kuwait Malawi China Sri Lanka Zambia Jamaica Bolivia Guatemala Venezuela Indonesia Colombia Colombia China Senegal Serbia India Bolivia Vietnam India Macedonia
73.6 73.4 72.5 72.3 72.3 72.0 71.5 71.4 71.3 71.2 71.2 70.3 69.3 69.0 66.9 66.8 66.3 65.5 65.3 64.5 64.3 64.1 63.7 63.6 63.3 63.0 62.7 62.6 62.4 62.1 62.0 61.7 61.4
73.0 77.1 72.5 72.3 73.8 72.0 71.5 71.4 71.7 72.2 71.2 69.8 70.3 68.1 66.9 66.3 73.6 65.5 65.3 65.7 64.3 64.5 63.7 63.6 63.3 62.6 63.5 59.4 61.0 63.3 61.9 61.0 59.9
153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 164 164 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 173 175 176 176 178 179
153 152 153 148 155 157 159 163 160 161 163 165 162 167 165 168 169 170 172 174 175 177 170 173 176 178 179
BANGALORE ACCRA LIBREVILLE NAIROBI HANOI ISLAMABAD
India Ghana Gabon Kenya Vietnam Pakistan
61.3 60.9 60.6 60.2 60.1 59.8 59.3 58.7 57.9 57.3 56.5 56.4 56.4 56.4 56.2 55.2 55.0 54.9 54.4 54.3 54.2 54.2 52.9 52.8 52.8 52.6 52.5
60.6 60.9 60.6 61.9 60.0 59.8 58.3 56.5 57.4 57.1 56.5 56.2 56.8 56.0 56.2 55.9 55.0 54.9 54.8 54.3 54.2 53.5 54.9 54.5 54.1 52.6 52.0
CHENNAI (MADRAS) India SARAJEVO JILIN JEDDAH LAHORE RIYADH ST. PETERSBURG SAN SALVADOR KIEV HARARE VIENTIANE MANAGUA MOSCOW COTONOU DJIBOUTI TRIPOLI KARACHI DAMASCUS TEHRAN ALGIERS BEIRUT Bosnia-Herzegovina China Saudi Arabia Pakistan Saudi Arabia Russia El Salvador Ukraine Zimbabwe Laos, People's Dem. Republic Of Nicaragua Russia Benin Djibouti Libya Pakistan Syria Iran Algeria Lebanon
180 181 SAN PEDRO SULA Honduras 51.8 51.3 lick column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
2007 RANK 2006 RANK CITY COUNTRY 2007 Index 2006 Index
181 182 183
180 182 184
TIRANA YAOUNDE MINSK
Albania Cameroon Belarus
51.7 51.3 49.5
51.7 51.1 49.5
184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 203 205 206 207 208 208 210 211 212 213 214 215
183 185 186 187 189 187 190 191 193 192 195 196 197 194 198 199 202 202 202 200 206 201 207 205 207 207 210 211 212 213 214 215
ALMATY YANGON DOUALA MAPUTO NOVOSIBIRSK HAVANA DAR ES SALAAM KAZAN LOME BAKU BAMAKO ABIDJAN LUANDA ADDIS ABABA TASHKENT LAGOS
Kazakhstan Myanmar Cameroon Mozambique Russia Cuba Tanzania Russia Togo Azerbaijan Mali Ivory Coast Angola Ethiopia Uzbekistan Nigeria
49.4 49.3 49.2 48.7 47.9 47.8 47.4 46.7 45.1 44.8 43.9 43.7 43.4 43.1 43.0 41.8 41.4 41.1 40.8 40.5 40.5 40.4 39.0 38.3 38.2 38.2 34.0 33.0 31.0 30.6 29.5 14.5
49.8 49.3 48.9 48.7 48.2 48.7 47.4 47.0 44.3 44.8 43.9 43.7 43.4 44.2 43.0 41.8 41.1 41.1 41.1 41.5 40.5 41.2 38.2 40.7 38.2 38.2 37.2 33.9 31.7 30.6 30.3 14.5
PORT AU PRINCE Haiti ANTANANARIVO NIAMEY DHAKA OUAGADOUGOU CONAKRY NOUAKCHOTT KINSHASA Madagascar Niger Bangladesh Burkina Faso Guinea Republic Mauritania Dem. Rep. Of The Congo
PORT HARCOURT Nigeria SANAA NDJAMENA POINTE NOIRE KHARTOUM BANGUI BRAZZAVILLE BAGHDAD Yemen Arab Republic Chad Congo Sudan Central African Republic Congo Iraq