Vienna tops list of cities for highest quality of life as London drops down

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If you've had enough of overcrowded tubes, ridiculous rents as well as overpriced bars and restaurants – and have always wanted to work in another country – then these are the cities you should be setting your sights on.

Vienna's quaint coffee shops, meandering bike paths and majestic architecture propelled it to the top spot of a ranking for quality of life. It was followed by Zurich in Switzerland and then Auckland in New Zealand.

At least that's what human resources consultancy Mercer's 2015 Quality of Living survey released today says. The survey looks at living conditions in 440 cities and analyses 39 factors such as culture and environment, political stability, safety, infrastructure and the ease of doing business.

London was the 40th best city in the world for quality of life, down two places from last year, after factors such as traffic congestion and air pollution stopped it from earning a higher spot in the league table.

Here's the top 30:

  1. Vienna, Austria
  2. Zurich, Switzerland
  3. Auckland, New Zealand
  4. Munich, Germany
  5. Vancouver, Canada
  6. Dusseldorf, Germany
  7. Frankfurt, Germany
  8. Geneva, Switzerland
  9. Copenhagen, Denmark
  10. Sydney, Australia
  11. Amsterdam, Netherlands
  12. Wellington, New Zealand
  13. Bern, Switzerland
  14. Berlin, Germany
  15. Toronto, Canada
  16. Hamburg, Germany
  17. Melbourne, Australia
  18. Ottawa, Canada
  19. Luxembourg, Luxembourg
  20. Stockholm, Sweden
  21. Stuttgart, Germany
  22. Brussels, Belgium
  23. Perth, Australia
  24. Montreal, Canada
  25. Nurnberg, Germany
  26. Singapore, Singapore
  27. Paris, France
  28. San Francisco, United States
  29. Canberra, Australia
  30. Helsinki, Finland