Zurich ranked in the top three for quality of life in global study

Zurich and Geneva have both improved their respective rankings in the Global Liveability Index 2022 in comparison with the previous year: according to the index, Zurich (+4) now offers the third-highest quality of life of any city around the world, a position it shares jointly with the Canadian city of Calgary. Geneva is ranked in sixth place (+2). As was the case in 2018 and 2019, top spot again went to Vienna (+12), with Copenhagen (+13) settling for the silver medal position. This index and the rankings based on it indicate where the 172 cities surveyed this year are positioned in terms of the quality of life they offer to inhabitants.

The index was collated by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) between mid-February and mid-March 2022. Their work is closely linked with that of “The Economist”, a London-based weekly newspaper with a focus on current affairs and international business. In the evaluation, the EIU considers five separate criteria: stability and culture/leisure time each receive a weighting of 25 percent, while health system and infrastructure have a weighting of 20 percent each, and education 10 percent. The EIU points out that movements in the ranking over the past two years correlate strongly with the pandemic restrictions. In general, the report says, medium-sized cities in the wealthiest countries perform particularly well in the survey

Western European and Canadian cities dominate the top ten. The largest improvements year on year were accounted for by three German cities: Frankfurt (+32 to 7th place), Hamburg (+31 to 16th place) and Düsseldorf (+28 to 22nd place). Paris is ranked 19th, with London down in 33rd position. 

The report cites the pandemic as one of the greatest risks to the further development of quality of life. The supply of vaccines and social security are said to be decisive factors in this context. However, the war in Ukraine represents the highest cost risk. Both aspects could have a negative impact on individual quality of life, but also on public services as well as sectors such as hotels and restaurants.