Muscat: Muscat was ranked the third best Arab city in terms of quality of life, according to an international survey.

Muscat bagged the position after Dubai and Abu Dhabi and ahead of Doha, Tunis, Rabat and Amman and Casablanca, according to HR consultancy firm Mercer’s survey on the Quality of Living Index.

Muscat was ranked 106th among 231 cities on the world level in the index that looks at which cities provide the best quality of life.

Vienna, Austria’s grand capital on the Danube river, topped the list offering the highest quality of life for the eighth year in a row, and Baghdad was pushed to be considered the worst place to live in.

The survey helps companies and organisations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff. It uses dozens of criteria such as political stability, healthcare, education, crime, recreation and transport.

Singapore was the highest ranked Asian city, at 25 while 29th-placed San Francisco was the highest entry from the US. Top of the list in Africa was Durban at 87.

Vienna’s 1.8 million inhabitants benefit from the city’s cafe culture and museums, theatres and operas. Rents and public transport costs in the city, whose architecture is marked by its past as the centre of the Habsburg empire, are cheap compared with other western capitals.

Switzerland’s Zurich, New Zealand’s Auckland, Germany’s Munich and Canada’s Vancouver followed Vienna in the top five of most pleasant cities to live in.

Baghdad was again ranked lowest in the world.