Vilnius is the highest-ranking capital among neighbouring countries according to the annual worldwide Mercer's 2009 Quality of Living Survey.
Vilnius is the highest-ranking capital among neighbouring countries according to the annual worldwide Mercer's 2009 Quality of Living Survey. The results of the survey show that the quality of life in Lithuania’s capital is better than that in Riga (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia), Warsaw (Poland), and Minsk (Belarus) as well as some other European cities. Vilnius is also ranked higher than Lisbon (Portugal), Athens (Greece) and Prague (the Czech Republic) in terms of infrastructure.
The survey reveals that “a number of countries which joined the European Union back in 2004 have experienced consistent improvement with increased stability, rising living standards and greater availability of international consumer goods”.
Vienna (Austria) is the city rated with the best quality of living worldwide, and Baghdad (Iraq) scores lowest. Overall, Europe's cities once more dominate the world's top 10 for quality of living, and the quality of living standard in most European countries remains far above the world’s average.
Mercer’s Quality of Living ranking covers 215 cities and is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments.