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Best cities for expats: three Swiss destinations among top ten

The Local Switzerland
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Best cities for expats: three Swiss destinations among top ten
Basel is in tenth place in the new Mercer quality of living ranking. File photo: Depositphotos"

Nothing in this world can be said to be certain, except for death and taxes…and Swiss cities scoring highly in international rankings for the best places to live.

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The 2019 Quality of Living Ranking published on Wednesday by human resources consulting firm Mercer is no different.

Zurich comes in second behind perennial top-place getter Vienna, while Geneva is in ninth place – one position lower than last year – and Basel comes in tenth for the second-year running.

Read also: Opinion - 12 things that surprised me about moving to Zurich

Zurich picked up points for its high number of international schools, its safe and reliable transport infrastructure and its excellent health system, said Narcisa Chelaru with Mercer in Zurich in a media release.

The city’s cultural activities and its property options were also cited – despite ongoing concerns about the lack of affordable housing in Switzerland’s biggest city.

Meanwhile, other cities to make the top ten this year include Auckland, Munich and Vancouver – all equal third – as well as Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Copenhagen.

The Swiss capital of Bern also did well, coming in 14th overall.

Read also: 13 reasons why I love living in the Swiss city of Bern

The Mercer rankings are based on 39 factors across ten categories including political and social environment, socio-cultural environment (including censorship and limitations of personal freedom) recreation, housing, economic environment, public services and transport, the natural environment, availability of consumer items and health and education systems.

According to Mercer, the rankings are designed to enable multinational companies and other organizations to compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments.

European cities continue to dominated the rankings in 2019 taking 13 of the top 20 places.

The Iraqi capital of Baghdad come bottom of the 231 cities included in the ranking.

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