Vienna

The Mercer 2010 Quality of Living Survey shows that quality of living in Vienna retains the world's best. Zurich and Geneva follow in second and third position.

Mercer's Quality of Living index list covers 221 cities this year, and it can be a good reference for the chief executives who want to appropriately compensate their employees working in different regions, said its senior researcher Slagin Parakatil.

The survey shows that quality of living remained stable in North American cities. However, it witnessed a general decline in South and Central America because of economic slowdown and political instability in some countries.

Canada's Vancouver retains the top spot in Americas. Honolulu is the city in the US with the highest quality of living. In Central and South America, Point-à-Pitre, capital of Guadeloupe ranks the highest for quality of living at 62.

Sixteen European cities are listed in the world's top 25 cities for quality of living. Vienna retains the highest ranking both for the region and globally. Eastern Europe witnessed a continuing improvement in quality of living.

Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Port Louis in Mauritius are the cities with the best quality of living in Middle East and Africa, while Baghdad remains at the bottom of the table due to its lack of security and stability.

Lack of adequate modern infrastructure and severe air pollution led to the fact that many African cities are ranked below 100.

In Asia Pacific, Auckland is the highest-ranking city, and Dushanbe in Tajikistan ranks the lowest. Increasing threats of terrorism and natural disasters contributed to the decline of quality of living in the region, according to Parakatil.