In the annual Mercer Quality of Living rankings, Bangkok has been named in 129th place globally – one place below Quito in Ecuador and one place above Bogota in Columbia – but more notable is that it has dropped down the personal safety rankings to 173rd after bouts of political unrest and the bomb attack last year.
Last year the city was ranked 117th globally.
The Survey assesses the quality of living conditions to help multinational companies and other employers fairly compensate employees when placing them on international assignments. Mercer compiles reports for each city, providing an overview of conditions and hardship premium recommendations.
The company noted that Asia has considerable variation in quality of living.
In 26th place Singapore remains its highest ranking city whereas Dhaka (214) is the lowest. Following Singapore in Southeastern Asia is Kuala Lumpur (86). Other key cities include Bangkok (129), Manila (136), and Jakarta (142).
Japanese cities rank highest in Eastern Asia, with Tokyo in 44th place. Other notable cities here are Hong Kong (70), Taipei (84), Shanghai (101), and Beijing (118).
For personal safety the rankings for Asian cities again vary greatly. Singapore (8) ranks highest overall and is followed by five Japanese cities – Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama – that are tied for 32nd place. Other key cities include Hong Kong (37), Taipei (78), Beijing (97), Seoul (115), New Delhi (142), and Jakarta (172).
Following considerable political unrest and terrorist attacks in several tourist areas over the last few years, Bangkok ranked 173rd for personal safety. Whilst Bangkok dominated news headlines for several days during August, the picture above was taken just three days after the attack on the Erawan shrine to illustrate life was very much back to normal.
New Zealand and Australia have some of the highest quality of living worldwide. Auckland ranks 3rd globally, Sydney 10th, Wellington 12th, and Melbourne 15th. For personal safety, Pacific cities also rank high, with Auckland and Wellington sharing 9th place. Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney share 25th place.
