PARIS, France (AFP) – The Austrian capital Vienna has the highest quality of life of any city in the world, followed by Zurich in Switzerland and Auckland, New Zealand, according to a survey published Wednesday.

The rest of the top ten are Munich, Vancouver, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Copenhagen and Sydney, according to the ranking of 230 cities compiled by Mercer, a human resources consultancy.

The survey, designed as a tool to help international organisations determine salary levels for expatriate employees, is based on 39 criteria.They include housing, political stability, crime, leisure, air pollution, infrastructure, the health system, education and the economy.

The top slots in the 2015 survey are dominated by cities in Western Europe.

The highest-ranked Asian city was Singapore, at 26th. Tokyo was placed at 44th, Hong Kong at 70th, Seoul at 72nd and Taipei at 83rd, while Shanghai was listed at 101st and Beijing at 118th.

The top Middle Eastern city was Dubai, at 74th, followed by Abu Dhabi at 77th.

The least-fancied city was Baghdad, at 230th, preceded by Bangui (Central African Republic), Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Khartoum (Sudan) and N’Djamena, the capital of Chad.