- Dubai is the top ranked city in the Middle East region
- Abu Dhabi ranks top in Middle East for personal safety
- European cities dominate worldwide quality of living rankings
- Vienna ranks highest for quality of living
Dubai and Abu Dhabi continue to rise in the Mercer’s global Quality of Living report. Dubai ranks 74 in the global ranking which is a one point improvement from the 2010 report and Abu Dhabi goes up five steps and takes the 78th spot in the list. Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively are Middle East’s best quality of living cities.
Mercer conducts the survey to help governments and multi-national companies compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. Mercer’s Quality of Living reports provide valuable information and hardship premium recommendations for major cities throughout the world. Mercer’s Quality of Living index list covers 221 cities, ranked against New York as the base city. The rankings are based on a point-scoring index. Cities are ranked against New York as the base city, with an index score of 100.
In 2011, the survey separately identified those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime levels, law enforcement effectiveness and the host country’s international relations. Abu Dhabi is in the top portion of the list with a ranking of 23, followed by Muscat 29 and Dubai in position 39.
Globally, Vienna has the best living standard in the world, according to the Mercer 2011 Quality of Living Survey. Zurich and Auckland follow in second and third position, respectively, and Munich is in fourth with Düsseldorf and Vancouver sharing fifth place.
Other cities in the region rank as follows: Muscat, Oman (101), Doha, Qatar (106), Manama, Bahrain (113), Kuwait City, Kuwait (120), Riyadh, KSA (157), Jeddah, KSA (159), Tehran, Iran (187), Sanaa, Yemen Arab Republic (216).
Baghdad (221) remains at the bottom of the list for both quality of living and personal safety. A lack of security and stability continue to have a negative impact.
“Companies need to keep on top of current developments to ensure that their compensation packages remain competitive and continue to motivate expatriate employees. That means reviewing major events, such as social unrest, economic turmoil or natural disasters and their impact on the success of overseas placements said Zaid Kamhawi, IPS Middle East Sub Market Business Leader at Mercer.
Mr. Kamhawi added “while social unrest in some countries in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, has temporarily lowered the comparative living standards in these countries, we see the environment in other places like the UAE continue to improve, driven mainly by infrastructure development and improvements in public services. It is also significant to highlight that 3 cities Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat are within the top 40 in personal safety a reflection of the sense of security experienced by expatriate employees living in these countries.
Mercer Quality of Living Survey - Worldwide Rankings, 2011 | Rank | City | Country | 1 | Vienna | Austria | 2 | Zurich | Switzerland | 3 | Auckland | New Zealand | 4 | Munich | Germany | 5 | Düsseldorf | Germany | 5 | Vancouver | Canada | 7 | Frankfurt | Germany | 8 | Geneva | Switzerland | 9 | Bern | Switzerland | 9 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
Personal Safety Ranking, 2011* | Rank | City | Country | 1 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 2 | Bern | Switzerland | 2 | Helsinki | Finland | 2 | Zurich | Switzerland | 5 | Vienna | Austria | 6 | Geneva | Switzerland | 6 | Stockholm | Sweden | 8 | Singapore | Singapore | 9 | Auckland | New Zealand | 9 | Wellington | New Zealand |
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