Three German cities have secured top spots in the 2019 Mercer Quality of Living Ranking (QOL). Worldwide, Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt were counted among the top 10 most liveable cities for expatriates. Within Europe, they all ranked in the top five.

Quality of Living Ranking 2019

Now in its 21st year, the Mercer Quality of Living Ranking is an annual ranking of 231 cities worldwide. The results of an extensive survey are compiled into a quality of living ranking that is intended to inform governments and international companies on where best to open new offices or transfer employees abroad. It is therefore a good indicator of which worldwide cities have the best quality of life for expats.

For the ranking, living conditions in cities around the world are assessed according to 39 different factors. These factors, which are each weighted according to their relative importance to expatriates, are grouped into 10 categories such as health, housing, schools & education, transportation and consumer goods.

Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt rank in top 10

For the 10th year in a row, Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt all featured in the top 10, ranked third, sixth and seventh respectively. Munich tied for third place with Vancouver, Canada, and Auckland, New Zealand.

Overall, European cities dominated the ranking, claiming eight of the top 10 spots. The Austrian capital Vienna bagged the number one spot, also for the 10th consecutive year, closely followed by Zürich, Switzerland, in second place.

German cities rank highly worldwide

Although they didn’t make it into the top 10, multiple German cities also scored well. Capital city Berlin came in 13th, Hamburg 19th and Nuremberg 23rd. Stuttgart climbed one spot to reach 27th, just outside the top 25. Overall, German cities scored highly due to the country’s excellent healthcare system, travel infrastructure and high standard of housing.

While all of the German cities in the top 10 scored highly on social, economic and cultural environment factors, Munich just secured an edge over Frankfurt and Düsseldorf on the basis of its many nightlife opportunities, wide availability of international schools, and its close proximity to green spaces.  

The top 10 most liveable cities at a glance

• 1. Vienna, Austria
• 2. Zürich, Switzerland
• 3. Munich, Germany
• 3. Auckland, New Zealand
• 3. Vancouver, Canada
• 6. Düsseldorf, Germany
• 7. Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• 8. Copenhagen, Denmark
• 9. Geneva, Switzerland
• 10. Basel, Switzerland

For full details of the survey, including the ranking criteria, please visit the Mercer website.

Mercer's 2018 Quality of Living Ranking

The results of the 2018 survey were quite similar; you can see which cities came out on top in the video below: