The 2019 Mercer survey on the quality of living in 231 cities around the world shows that Dubai is the city with the highest living standards in the Arab region and ranks in 74th place globally. Abu Dhabi followed in 78th place, then Muscat (105th), Doha (110th) and Tunis (114th) as the best cities for overall quality of living among 22 Arab cities; while Nouakchott (221st), Damascus (225th), Khartoum (227th), Sana'a (229th) and Baghdad (231st) are the least appealing Arab cities in terms of living conditions. The study evaluates the cities on the basis of 39 key quality-of-living determinants grouped in 10 categories that include political, economic and socio-cultural factors, in addition to healthcare & sanitation, schools & education, public services & transportation, recreation, consumer goods, housing, and the natural environment. Based on the 22 Arab cities that were included in both the 2010 and 2019 surveys, the rankings of 11 cities in the region improved, eight declined and three were unchanged over the 2010-19 period. Amman's rank rose by eight spots and constituted the best improvement regionally. In contrast, the rank of Damascus regressed by 42 spots, representing the steepest decline globally between 2010 and 2019. Also, 12 Arab cities ranked in the bottom third globally in 2019 and six cities came among the bottom 20 cities worldwide. The survey is conducted annually to help multinational companies assess international hardship allowances and incentives for their expatriate workers. 
Source: Mercer, Byblos Research