Dublin outranks Paris in city poll

Dublin ranks higher than Paris, London or New York in a league of the world’s top cities for living standards.

The capital maintained its place as the 26th best city to live in globally with Belfast coming 63rd.

Vienna topped the poll, followed by Zurich in second place and Auckland in third place.

Munich is in fourth place with Dusseldorf and Vancouver sharing fifth place, Frankfurt seventh and Geneva eighth next to Copenhagen and Bern, which both share ninth place.

The rankings are part of the annual Mercer Quality of Living survey.

In a separate personal safety ranking, based on a city’s stability, crime levels, law enforcement and the country’s international relations, Dublin ranked 16th.

The Iraqi capital Baghdad came bottom of out of the 221 cities polled for both living standards and personal safety.

European cities made up more than half of the top 25, with London the highest-ranking UK city at 38, followed by Birmingham (52), Aberdeen (54) and Glasgow (56).

The cities with the lowest quality of living are Khartoum, Sudan (217), Port-au-Prince, Haiti (218), N’Djamena, Chad (219), and Bangui, Central African Republic (220) followed by Baghdad.