What is the Quality of Life in South Africa and how do the various cities rank for quality of life in 2018?
Mercer, a human resources consulting firm, publishes its annual ranking of quality of life every year. Take a look at the data visualization below that shows the 231 cities evaluated in the survey.
Durban is the highest-ranked city coming in at 89, with Cape Town and Johannesburg following at 94 and 95. This puts the quality of life in South Africa’s major cities on par with cities in South Korea, Argentina, Chile and Croatia.
List of Cities by Quality of Life in 2018
Rank | City | Country |
1 | Vienna | Austria |
2 | Zurich | Switzerland |
3 | Auckland | New Zealand |
3 | Munich | Germany |
5 | Vancouver | Canada |
6 | Dusseldorf | Germany |
7 | Frankfurt | Germany |
8 | Geneva | Switzerland |
9 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
10 | Basel | Switzerland |
10 | Sydney | Australia |
12 | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
13 | Berlin | Germany |
14 | Bern | Switzerland |
15 | Wellington | New Zealand |
16 | Melbourne | Australia |
16 | Toronto | Canada |
18 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
19 | Ottawa | Canada |
19 | Hamburg | Germany |
21 | Perth | Australia |
21 | Montreal | Canada |
23 | Stockholm | Sweden |
23 | Nurnberg | Germany |
25 | Singapore | Singapore |
25 | Oslo | Norway |
27 | Brussels | Belgium |
28 | Stuttgart | Germany |
29 | Adelaide | Australia |
30 | Canberra | Australia |
30 | San Francisco | United States |
32 | Helsinki | Finland |
33 | Calgary | Canada |
34 | Dublin | Ireland |
35 | Boston | United States |
36 | Honolulu | United States |
37 | Brisbane | Australia |
38 | Lisbon | Portugal |
39 | Paris | France |
40 | Lyon | France |
41 | London | United Kingdom |
42 | Milan | Italy |
43 | Barcelona | Spain |
44 | Seattle | United States |
45 | New York | United States |
46 | Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
47 | Chicago | United States |
48 | Washington | United States |
49 | Madrid | Spain |
50 | Tokyo | Japan |
50 | Kobe | Japan |
50 | Birmingham | United Kingdom |
50 | Glasgow | United Kingdom |
50 | Philadelphia | United States |
55 | Yokohama | Japan |
55 | Pittsburgh | United States |
57 | Rome | Italy |
58 | Aberdeen | United Kingdom |
59 | Osaka | Japan |
60 | Leipzig | Germany |
61 | Minneapolis | United States |
62 | Dallas | United States |
63 | Atlanta | United States |
64 | Los Angeles | United States |
64 | Nagoya | Japan |
64 | Houston | United States |
64 | Miami | United States |
68 | Belfast | United Kingdom |
69 | Prague | Czech Rebublic |
70 | St. Louis | United States |
71 | Detroit | United States |
71 | Hong Kong | HKSAR |
73 | Pointe-a-Pitre | Guadeloupe |
74 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates |
75 | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
76 | Budapest | Hungary |
77 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates |
77 | Montevideo | Uruguay |
79 | Seoul | South Korea |
80 | Bratislava | Slovakia |
81 | Vilnius | Lithuania |
82 | Warsaw | Poland |
83 | Port Louis | Mauritius |
84 | Taipei | Taiwan |
85 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia |
86 | Athens | Greece |
87 | Limassol | Cyprus |
87 | Tallinn | Estonia |
89 | Durban | South Africa |
90 | Riga | Latvia |
91 | Buenos Aires | Argentina |
92 | Santiago | Chile |
93 | Busan | South Korea |
94 | Cape Town | South Africa |
95 | Johannesburg | South Africa |
96 | San Juan | Puerto Rico |
96 | Panama City | Panama |
98 | Victoria | Seychelles |
98 | Zagreb | Croatia |
100 | Wroclaw | Poland |
101 | Taichung | Taiwan |
101 | Johor Bahru | Malaysia |
103 | Shanghai | China |
104 | Tel Aviv | Israel |
105 | Muscat | Oman |
106 | Bandar Seri Begawan | Brunei |
107 | Bucharest | Romania |
108 | Brasilia | Brazil |
109 | Noumea | New Caledonia |
110 | Doha | Qatar |
111 | Nassau | Bahamas |
112 | Monterrey | Mexico |
113 | San Jose | Costa Rica |
114 | Tunis | Tunisia |
115 | Asuncion | Paraguay |
116 | Sofia | Bulgaria |
117 | Rabat | Morocco |
118 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil |
119 | Amman | Jordan |
119 | Beijing | China |
119 | Guangzhou | China |
122 | Quito | Ecuador |
122 | Sao Paulo | Brazil |
124 | Lima | Peru |
124 | Casablanca | Morocco |
126 | Kuwait City | Kuwait |
127 | Manaus | Brazil |
128 | Bogota | Colombia |
129 | Mexico City | Mexico |
130 | Windhoek | Namibia |
130 | Shenzhen | China |
132 | Bangkok | Thailand |
133 | Chengdu | China |
134 | Istanbul | Turkey |
135 | Santo Domingo | Dominican Republic |
136 | Manama | Bahrain |
137 | Colombo | Sri Lanka |
137 | Manila | Philippines |
139 | Belgrade | Serbia |
140 | Nanjing | China |
141 | Gaborone | Botswana |
142 | Jakarta | Indonesia |
142 | Hyderabad | India |
142 | Pune | India |
145 | Xian | China |
146 | Qingdao | China |
147 | Chongqing | China |
147 | Port-of-Spain | Trinidad & Tobago |
149 | Bangalore | India |
150 | Lusaka | Zambia |
151 | Chennai | India |
152 | Ho Chi Minh City | Vietnam |
153 | Kingston | Jamaica |
154 | Mumbai | India |
155 | Hanoi | Vietnam |
156 | La Paz | Bolivia |
157 | Shenyeng | China |
158 | Guatemala City | Guatemala |
159 | Sarajevo | Bosnia-Herzegovina |
160 | Kolkata | India |
161 | Skopje | Macedonia |
162 | New Delhi | India |
163 | Dakar | Senegal |
164 | Libreville | Gabon |
165 | Accra | Ghana |
165 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia |
167 | Moscow | Russia |
168 | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia |
169 | Jilin | China |
170 | Vientiane | Laos, People’s Democratic Republic of |
171 | Yerevan | Armenia |
172 | Kampala | Uganda |
173 | Kiev | Ukraine |
173 | Managua | Nicaragua |
173 | St. Petersburg | Russia |
176 | Tirana | Albania |
177 | Almaty | Kazakhstan |
178 | Cairo | Eqypt |
179 | San Salvador | El Salvador |
180 | Blantyre | Malawi |
181 | Beirut | Lebanon |
182 | Cotonou | Benin |
182 | Maputo | Mozambique |
184 | Algiers | Algeria |
185 | Banjul | Gambia |
186 | Nairobi | Kenya |
187 | Tbilisi | Georgia |
188 | Minski | Belarus |
189 | Tegucigalpa | Honduras |
190 | Djibouti | Djibouti |
190 | Kigali | Rwanda |
192 | Havana | Cuba |
193 | Caracas | Venezuela |
194 | Yaounde | Cameroon |
195 | Islamabad | Pakistan |
196 | Baku | Azerbaijan |
197 | Phnom Penh | Cambodia |
198 | Douala | Cameroon |
199 | Dar es Salaam | Tanzania |
200 | Tehran | Iran |
201 | Luanda | Angola |
202 | Lahore | Pakistan |
203 | Rangoon | Myanmar |
203 | Tashkent | Uzbekistan |
205 | Karachi | Pakistan |
206 | Lome | Togo |
207 | Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan |
208 | Abidjan | Cote d’Ivoire |
209 | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia |
210 | Harare | Zimbabwe |
211 | Ashgabat | Turkmenistan |
212 | Lagos | Nigeria |
213 | Abuja | Nigeria |
214 | Dushanbe | Tajikistan |
214 | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso |
216 | Dhaka | Bangladesh |
217 | Antananarivo | Madagascar |
218 | Tripoli | Libya |
218 | Niamey | Niger |
220 | Bamako | Mali |
221 | Nouakchott | Mauritania |
222 | Conakry | Guinea Republic |
223 | Kinshasa | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
224 | Brazzaville | Congo |
225 | Damascus | Syria |
226 | Ndjamena | Chad |
227 | Khartoum | Sudan |
228 | Port-au-Prince | Haiti |
229 | Sanaa | Yemen Arab Republic |
230 | Bangui | Central African Republic |
231 | Baghdad | Iraq |

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