Survey rates Dublin world's 24th best city

Dublin has the highest quality of life for cities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, according to a survey.

Dublin has the highest quality of life for cities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, according to a survey.

The capital came 24th in a survey of 215 cities across the world. London was 39th, trailing behind Paris (33rd), but ahead of New York (46th).

Zurich was the world's top rated city ahead of second placed Geneva. Vancouver was third.

Baghdad was the city with the worst quality of life, taking the dubious title ahead of Brazzaville in the Congo and Bangui in the Central African Republic.

READ MORE

Cities in Europe, Canada and Australia dominated the top rankings in the survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which aimed to establish the best and worst cities for expatriates.

Each city was judged on factors including personal safety, the environment and access to health, education, transport and other public services. Almost half the top 30 cities were in Western Europe.

London was in exactly the same spot as last year and Dublin dropped two places, mainly due to increased traffic congestion. Cities in Eastern Europe such as Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague, Vilnius, Tallinn and Warsaw climbed the rankings.

Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer said: "The standard of living in many Eastern European cities is gradually improving as the countries that most recently joined the EU attract greater investment.

"Yet cities such as Dubai may still offer a wider variety of facilities demanded by expatriates including well-connected international airports and better opportunities for recreation and leisure activities."