For the first time in their annual ‘Mapping the world’s prices’ report, Deutsche Bank this year ranked the quality of life in 47 cities around the world, with Edinburgh finishing just off the top spot.
The list was compiled using the Numbeo Quality of Life index, an empirical measure of living standards across various cities, calculated by measuring certain broad factors that affect overall quality of life in a given location.
The factors under consideration for the ranking were:
- Consumer purchasing power
- Regional crime and safety
- Overall quality of health care availability
- General cost of consumer goods
- Housing affordability
- Traffic congestion and commute times
- Overall pollution index
- Regional climate likeability
Wellington, the capital of New Zealand claimed top spot, with Edinburgh, Vienna, Melbourne and Zurich making up the top five.
The report, which also ranked the price of everything from an iPhone, two litres of Coca Cola, gym membership, a haircut, a packet of fags and even a cheap date in the various cities in the report, can be read in full here.
Top 25 cities with the highest quality of life in the world
- Wellington (New Zealand)
- Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
- Vienna (Austria)
- Melbourne (Australia)
- Zurich (Switzerland)
- Copenhagen (Denmark)
- Ottawa (Canada)
- Boston (USA)
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Sydney (Australia)
- Helsinki (Finland)
- Berlin (Germany)
- Auckland (New Zealand)
- Toronto (Canada)
- Lisbon (Portugal)
- Madrid (Spain)
- Cape Town (South Africa)
- San Francisco (USA)
- Prague (Czech Republic)
- Stockholm (Sweden)
- Dublin (Ireland)
- Chicago (USA)
- Warsaw (Poland)
- Brussels (Belgium)
- Johannesburg (South Africa)
