According to the 2016 Mercer Quality of Living index, the Dutch capital remains in 11th place in terms of overall quality of life. The survey also concluded that Amsterdam is the 16th safest city to live in.

Western European cities dominate the top of Mercer’s 2016 Quality of Living Rankings, with Vienna keeping its first place.

Mercer is an international consulting firm that conducts this survey annually to enable multinational companies and other employers to compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. This year’s ranking covers 230 cities from around the world and takes a number of different factors into account.

Personal safety

This year Mercer also examined personal safety, a top issue for multinational companies sending employees abroad, as security concerns increase throughout the world.

Luxembourg earns the top spot for personal safety, followed by Bern, Helsinki and Zurich. Baghdad and Damascus are the least safe cities to live in.

Vienna ranks fifth, Geneva and Stockholm share sixth place, while Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Nurnberg are all 11th in terms of safety.

A number of key or capital cities rank considerably lower as many suffered either terrorist attacks or social unrest in the last few years. These include Paris (71), London (72), Madrid (84) and Athens (124).

The recent political and economic turmoil in Greece, which resulted in violent demonstrations in Athens and other cities in the country, has undermined its safety ranking. Kiev in Ukraine (189) and the Russian cities of St. Petersburg (197) and Moscow (206) rank lowest for personal safety in the region.

Western Europe has highest quality of living

The only non-European cities in the top 10 Quality of Living rankings are Auckland (New Zealand), Vancouver (Canada) and Sydney (Australia).

Germany is represented by three cities in the top 10, the highest number of any country in the world. The biggest change in the top 50 is Paris, which dropped from 27th to 37th place compared to 2015.

Central and Eastern Europe

With 69th place, Prague is the highest ranking city in Central and Eastern Europe, followed by Ljubljana (76) and Budapest (77).

The lowest ranking cities in Europe, in terms of livability, are Kiev (176), Tirana (179) and Minsk (190).

Top 11 Quality of Living ranking

These are the 11 countries with the highest livability ratings according to the 2016 Mercer Quality of Living Rankings:
1) Vienna - Austria
2) Zurich - Switzerland
3) Auckland - New Zealand
4) Munich - Germany
5) Vancouver - Canada
6) Dusseldorf - Germany
7) Frankfurt - Germany
8) Geneva - Switzerland
9) Copenhagen - Denmark
10) Sydney - Australia
11) Amsterdam - Netherlands