BEIRUT: The annual survey on the quality of living in 221 cities around the world by global consultants Mercer Human Resource Consulting ranked Beirut as the 170th most desirable city for overall living standards and 16th among 25 cities surveyed in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2011, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.

Beirut ranked in 172nd place worldwide and in 16th place in the region in the 2010 survey. Also Beirut ranked in 34th place among 42 Upper Middle Income Countries included in the 2011 survey while it ranked in 32nd place among UMICs included in the 2010 survey.

The study evaluated the cities on the basis of 39 key quality-of-living determinants grouped in 10 categories that include political, economic and sociocultural factors, in addition to health & sanitation, schools & education, public services & transportation, recreation, consumer goods, housing and natural environment. New York City served as the benchmark for other cities.

On a global basis, Beirut ranked ahead of Cotonou in Benin, Almaty in Kazakhstan and Yerevan; and came immediately behind Vientiane in Laos, San Salvador in El Salvador and Banjul in Gambia.

It also ranked ahead of Almaty in Kazakhstan, Tirana in Albania and Algiers in Algeria; and immediately behind Saint Petersburg in Russia, Caracas in Venezuela, and Moscow in Russia among UMICs. Regionally, Beirut ranked ahead of Djibouti, Algiers and Damascus and behind Jeddah, Riyadh and Cairo. Beirut’s rank improved by two spots, posting the fifth highest increase in the region’s rankings along with Kuwait City, Nouakchott.

The rankings of 10 cities improved, 12 declined and three stayed the same. Abu Dhabi’s rank improved by 5 spots constituting the highest improvement in the MENA region while Tripoli’s rank dropped by 35 spots representing the steepest decrease in the region.

Mercer indicated that the recent wave of violent protests across the MENA has temporarily lowered living standards in the region. Many countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen have seen their quality of living levels drop considerably.

Vienna had the highest overall quality of living in the world and Dubai remained the best city for overall quality of living in the region; while Baghdad is still considered to be the world’s least appealing city.

The survey is conducted annually to help multinational companies assess international hardship allowance for their expatriate workers.

The data for the survey was collected between September and November 2011 and has been regularly updated to take account of changing circumstances.