Café culture in the centre of Bern, the Swiss capital.
Keystone / Manuel Lopez
Three Swiss cities feature in the top 10 of the latest Mercer quality of living rankingExternal link, which once again is top-heavy with European metropolises.
As in last year’s ranking, Zurich is the second most liveable city in the world, just behind Vienna, the human resources consulting firm Mercer has reported.
Geneva (9th, down one spot) and Basel (10th, again) also rank highly, while Swiss capital Bern comes 14th in a list that features eight European cities in the top 10.
Surveying some 231 global cities, Mercer establishes the ranking based on criteria including crime rates, public transport, waste disposal services, climate, and electricity supplies.
The list can be used to calculate the salaries of expatriated workers sent to destinations around the world, Mercer says.
Switzerland has traditionally fared extremely well in such rankings: even though expats sometimes moan about the difficulty of integration and of getting to know Swiss people, the political stability, healthcare, and high salaries boost the country’s reputation.
In this year’s Mercer report, the strong European performance was contrasted by declining fortunes for US cities, which all dropped except for New York (44th), where the ongoing decrease in crime rates allowed it to jump a spot.
At the bottom end of the scale, African and Middle Eastern cities facing security issues came out worst, with Baghdad propping up the table despite “significant improvements in security and sanitation services in recent years”.
More
More
Your views: why life is good in Switzerland
This content was published on
We wanted to find out what makes Switzerland special by talking to our readers. Here are some of your answers.
Swiss government welcomes private social security for self-employed
This content was published on
Self-employed people in Switzerland are less financially protected against losses than employees of a company. The government therefore welcomes private initiatives.
ETH trebles fees for foreign students in Switzerland
This content was published on
Foreign students at Switzerland’s federal technology institutes ETH will have to pay higher fees for their studies from autumn semester 2025.
Struggling Swiss company Meyer Burger secures $40m financing
This content was published on
Swiss solar company Meyer Burger has concluded a bridge financing of $39.48 million (CHF34.7 million) with certain bondholders to stabilise the situation.
This content was published on
Two satellites on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-3 mission have been successfully launched. Swiss technology is on board.
Swiss health insurance spent more on medicine than ever in 2023
This content was published on
Last year, Swiss health insurance companies spent CHF9 billion on medicines for basic insurance, almost 6% more than in the previous year.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
What the Swiss can teach us about quality of life
This content was published on
Squeezing in a lunchtime swim – and being able to get there by bus – is just one example of why Swiss cities keep topping quality of life surveys.
Three Swiss cities among world’s top ten for quality of life
This content was published on
Switzerland’s biggest city, Zurich, offers the second-best quality of life in the world, according to the annual survey from consulting firm Mercer.
This content was published on
The Swiss remained in the number one spot for the third consecutive year, ahead of Japan, Canada, Germany and Britain, according to a survey by a United States media company published on Wednesday. Eight European countries feature in the top ten, with Australia and the US in seventh and eighth position respectively. “Switzerland is seen…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.