Mercer ‘Quality of Living’ survey ranks Auckland third most livable city again

The City of Sails continues to be ranked the world’s third most liveable city for quality of life.

The 2019 Mercer Quality of Living survey, released this week, shows Auckland in joint third place – along with Munich in Germany and Vancouver in Canada – out of 231 cities.

It’s the eighth year Auckland has nabbed third place, outranked by Switzerland’s Zurich in second place and Austria’s capital, Vienna, coming out on top. Wellington rounded out the top 20 most liveable cities, coming in at 15, while Melbourne came in at 17. Baghdad in Iraq was the worst ranked city.

Mercer rankscities in a number of different ways,including recreation, housing, the economy, public transport, school and education and medical and health considerations.

Gill Alcock

Auckland has again been ranked the third most liveable city in a survey of more than 200 cities.

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This year, Mercer provides a separate ranking on personal safety, which analyses cities’ internal stability; crime levels; law enforcement; limitations on personal freedom; relationships with other countries and freedom of the press.  Auckland and Wellington topped the safety ranking for Oceania in joint 9th place, while  Australia’s major cities all rank within the top 50 for safety.

In 2018, Mercer New Zealand CEO Martin Lewington said Auckland remained an attractive place to do business.

“There are a number of factors which have contributed to companies looking at establishing headquarters or relocating expats to Auckland,”  Lewington said.

“New Zealand’s natural environment and subtropical climate, stable political and social environment, and good medical and health services are the top three contributing factors for Auckland retaining third spot in the global rankings.”

BEVAN READ/STUFF

Auckland celebrates an arrray of festivals, including the Chinese Lantern Festival.

WHY AUCKLAND?

Here’s why we think Auckland deserves its third place ranking.

Beaches – Never have a city’s residents been so spoilt for choice for a stunning array of freely accessible beaches.

Within an hours drive from Auckland CBD Aucklanders can frolic on the west coast’s black sand beaches of Piha, Karekare and Muriwai, enjoy inner harbour Mission Bay or head out northeast to pink sand Pakiri.

Food – Forget about fine dining, multicultural Auckland has clusters of affordable ethnic restaurants serving authentic and downright tasty food.

Festivals – Every year thousands flock to a multitude of festivals embracing Auckland’s myriad ethnicities, for starters there’s Diwali, the Chinese Lantern Festival and Pasifika Festival.

Cone heads – Rome has its seven hills, Rio has Corcovado Mountain and Cape Town Table Mountain, but Auckland has 48 maunga, or volcanic cones.

WORLD’S TOP 10 MOST LIVEABLE CITIES ACCORDING TO MERCER

1 Vienna

2 Zurich

3 Vancouver, 

3 Munich, 

3 Auckland

6 Dusseldorf

7 Frankfurt

8 Copenhagen

9 Geneva

10 Basel

Do you think Auckland deserves its place on the list? Let us know in the comments.

JASON DORDAY/STUFF

Muriwai Beach, one of Auckland’s black sand beaches along the west coast.