A new Mercer study ranks cities by the quality of life they offer expatriate executives and their families across the world

What foreign postings are most coveted by expatriate executives? To find out, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which provides advice to multinational companies on international assignments, has come up with a global ranking of the world's most livable cities based on 39 key quality-of-life issues. They include political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing, the environment and public safety. Mercer collected the data between September and November of 2006 and considered 215 cities around the globe. Switzerland's main commercial and cultural center, Zurich, topped the list this year, followed by Geneva, and Vancouver and Vienna, which tied for third. To see how other cities fared, check out this interactive table.

2007 RANK	2006 RANK	CITY	COUNTRY	2007 Index	2006 Index
181	180	TIRANA	Albania	51.7	51.7
178	178	ALGIERS	Algeria	52.6	52.6
196	197	LUANDA	Angola	43.4	43.4
79	78	BUENOS AIRES	Argentina	87.4	87.3
9	9	SYDNEY	Australia	106.5	106.5
17	17	MELBOURNE	Australia	105.0	105.0
21	21	PERTH	Australia	104.5	104.5
30	29	ADELAIDE	Australia	103.1	103.1
32	31	BRISBANE	Australia	102.8	102.8
3	4	VIENNA	Austria	107.7	107.5
193	192	BAKU	Azerbaijan	44.8	44.8
112	114	NASSAU	Bahamas	75.9	75.9
123	125	MANAMA	Bahrain	72.3	72.3
203	200	DHAKA	Bangladesh	40.5	41.5
183	184	MINSK	Belarus	49.5	49.5
14	14	BRUSSELS	Belgium	105.6	105.6
172	174	COTONOU	Benin	54.3	54.3
149	145	SANTA CRUZ	Bolivia	62.1	63.3
139	137	LA PAZ	Bolivia	64.5	65.7
160	163	SARAJEVO	Bosnia-Herzegovina	58.7	56.5
126	129	MANAUS	Brazil	71.5	71.5
114	108	SAO PAULO	Brazil	74.6	77.1
115	116	RIO DE JANEIRO	Brazil	74.5	74.5
104	104	BRASILIA	Brazil	78.8	78.8
116	118	SOFIA	Bulgaria	74.3	73.8
203	206	OUAGADOUGOU	Burkina Faso	40.5	40.5
186	186	DOUALA	Cameroon	49.2	48.9
182	182	YAOUNDE	Cameroon	51.3	51.1
15	15	TORONTO	Canada	105.4	105.4
3	3	VANCOUVER	Canada	107.7	107.7
22	22	MONTREAL	Canada	104.3	104.3
18	18	OTTAWA	Canada	104.8	104.8
24	25	CALGARY	Canada	103.6	103.6
213	213	BANGUI	Central African Republic	30.6	30.6
210	210	NDJAMENA	Chad	34.0	37.2
83	81	SANTIAGO	Chile	86.5	86.5
100	103	SHANGHAI	China	81.6	80.1
116	121	BEIJING	China	74.3	73.4
145	147	SHENYANG	China	63.0	62.6
131	133	GUANGZHOU	China	70.3	69.8
135	136	NANJING	China	66.8	66.3
161	160	JILIN	China	57.9	57.4
143	143	BOGOTA	Colombia	63.6	63.6
144	145	MEDELLIN	Colombia	63.3	63.3
211	211	POINTE NOIRE	Congo	33.0	33.9
214	214	BRAZZAVILLE	Congo	29.5	30.3
106	106	SAN JOSE	Costa Rica	77.8	77.8
107	111	ZAGREB	Croatia	77.6	76.2
189	187	HAVANA	Cuba	47.8	48.7
91	88	LIMASSOL	Cyprus	83.2	83.2
72	73	PRAGUE	Czech Republic	92.3	91.8
207	205	KINSHASA	Dem. Rep. Of The Congo	38.3	40.7
11	11	COPENHAGEN	Denmark	106.2	106.2
173	175	DJIBOUTI	Djibouti	54.2	54.2
127	130	SANTO DOMINGO	Dominican Republic	71.4	71.4
118	117	QUITO	Ecuador	74.2	74.2
125	127	GUAYAQUIL	Ecuador	72.0	72.0
129	131	CAIRO	Egypt	71.2	71.2
164	167	SAN SALVADOR	El Salvador	56.4	56.0
89	91	TALLINN	Estonia	83.7	82.8
197	194	ADDIS ABABA	Ethiopia	43.1	44.2
30	29	HELSINKI	Finland	103.1	103.1
33	33	PARIS	France	102.7	102.7
36	37	LYON	France	101.9	101.6
97	97	PAPEETE	French Polynesia	82.0	82.0
155	153	LIBREVILLE	Gabon	60.6	60.6
24	26	HAMBURG	Germany	103.6	103.4
23	23	NURNBERG	Germany	104.2	104.1
16	16	BERLIN	Germany	105.2	105.1
5	6	DUSSELDORF	Germany	107.3	107.2
7	7	FRANKFURT	Germany	107.1	107.0
8	8	MUNICH	Germany	106.9	106.8
67	68	LEIPZIG	Germany	95.5	95.4
154	152	ACCRA	Ghana	60.9	60.9
78	79	ATHENS	Greece	87.6	86.8
140	141	GUATEMALA CITY	Guatemala	64.3	64.3
205	201	CONAKRY	Guinea Republic	40.4	41.2
200	202	PORT AU PRINCE	Haiti	41.4	41.1
180	181	SAN PEDRO SULA	Honduras	51.8	51.3
70	68	HONG KONG	Hong Kong	94.3	95.4
74	74	BUDAPEST	Hungary	90.2	90.8
153	153	BANGALORE	India	61.3	60.6
151	150	MUMBAI	India	61.7	61.0
148	150	NEW DELHI	India	62.4	61.0
159	159	CHENNAI (MADRAS)	India	59.3	58.3
142	142	JAKARTA	Indonesia	63.7	63.7
176	176	TEHRAN	Iran	52.8	54.1
215	215	BAGHDAD	Iraq	14.5	14.5
27	24	DUBLIN	Ireland	103.3	103.8
105	105	TEL AVIV	Israel	78.5	78.5
122	124	JERUSALEM	Israel	72.5	72.5
61	62	ROME	Italy	97.4	97.4
49	51	MILAN	Italy	99.9	99.6
195	196	ABIDJAN	Ivory Coast	43.7	43.7
138	139	KINGSTON	Jamaica	65.3	65.3
69	67	OMUTA	Japan	94.9	95.5
54	53	NAGOYA	Japan	99.5	98.9
38	37	YOKOHAMA	Japan	101.7	101.6
40	40	KOBE	Japan	101.0	101.0
42	51	OSAKA	Japan	100.5	99.6