The 2019 Mercer survey on the quality of living around the world ranked Beirut as the 184th most desirable city for overall living standards among 231 cities worldwide and in 14th place among 22 cities in the Arab world. Also, Beirut ranked in 48th place among 57 cities in upper middle-income countries (UMICs) included in the survey. In comparison, Beirut ranked in 181st place globally and in 14th place regionally in the 2018 survey. Based on the 221 cities that were included in both the 2010 and 2019 surveys, Beirut came in 174th place globally in 2019 and regressed by two spots from 172nd place in the 2010 survey. It was among 76 cities whose rank regressed, while the rankings of 117 cities improved and those of 28 cities were unchanged between 2010 and 2019.

The survey evaluates the cities on the basis of 39 key quality-of-living determinants grouped in 10 categories that consist of political, economic and socio-cultural factors, in addition to healthcare & sanitation, schools & education, public services & transportation, recreation, consumer goods, housing, and the natural environment. 

On a global basis, the quality of living in Beirut is better than in Algiers, Nairobi in Kenya and Tbilisi in Georgia, and is less appealing than in Blantyre in Malawi, Cotonou in Benin and Maputo in Mozambique. Also, Beirut's quality of living is better than in Algiers, Minsk in Belarus and Havana in Cuba, and is less appealing than in  Russia's Saint Petersburg, Albania's capital Tirana and Almaty in Kazakhstan among UMICs. Vienna has the highest quality of living in the world and Dubai remains the city with the best living standards in the Arab world, while the survey considered Baghdad to be the world's least appealing city in terms of living conditions. 

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's (GEM) 2018 Adult Population Survey shows that 24.1% of Lebanese adults are actively engaged in starting or running a new business, ranking the country in fourth place among 48 economies globally on the total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) indicator. Lebanon also came in first place on the indicator among eight Middle East & North African (MENA) economies that are Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE. 

The TEA is GEM's headline indicator that measures entrepreneurial activity, and takes into account nascent entrepreneurs that are actively engaged in starting a business, as well as business owners who are running a new business. The Adult Population Survey provides data and information on entrepreneurship and covers at least 2,000 randomly selected adults between the age of 18 and 64 years.  

In addition, the survey indicated that 68.1% Lebanese adults believed that they have the skills, knowledge and experience to run a new business, the second highest percentage in the MENA region behind only Saudi Arabia (83.4%), and the fifth highest percentage globally. In parallel, only 22.4% of adults in Lebanon refrained from starting a business due to the fear of failure, the lowest percentage regionally and the fourth lowest worldwide. Also, the survey showed that 15.3% of Lebanese adults indicated that they are actively engaged in starting or running a business in order to take advantage of a business opportunity, the highest share in the MENA region. Further, 8.8% of adults in Lebanon said they are starting a new business due to their need for an income, which also constitutes the highest share in the region.

In parallel, the survey indicated that 6% of Lebanese adults invested in someone else's start up in the last three years, the fifth highest such ratio in the region. Also, the average informal investment in start-ups in Lebanon was at around $19,406 in 2018, which is twice as high as the 2017 level. It was the third highest in the region, behind the UAE ($75,958) and Qatar ($66,735). Informal investments exclude funding from banks or other financial institutions, and only consist of investments sourced from relatives, friends and personal connections.

The national accounts for the healthcare sector published by the Ministry of Public Health, with the support of the World Health Organization, show that healthcare expenditures in Lebanon stood at LBP5,582bn, or $3.7bn, in 2015, which is equivalent to 7.4% of GDP. In comparison, healthcare spending totaled LBP4,648bn, or $3.1bn, in 2012, and was equivalent to 7.2% of GDP. The national accounts for healthcare cover the structure and components of healthcare expenditures and the sources of funding.

On the expenditures side, out-of-pocket household spending on healthcare reached $1.2bn in 2015, or 32.7% of total healthcare expenditures in the country. The National Social Security Fund followed with $690m in healthcare spending (18.6% of the total), then private insurance companies with $568m (15.3%) and the Ministry of Public Health with $445.5m (12%). Further, the Lebanese Army's spending on healthcare amounted to $220m, or 5.9% of the total, followed by the Civil Servants Cooperative with $136.2m (3.7%), international organizations with $120m and private mutual funds with $118m (3.2% each), the Internal Security Forces with $93.4m (2.5%), public mutual funds with $67.4m (1.8%), the General Directorate of General Security with $21m (0.6%), and Customs with $6.3m and the Lebanese State Security with $6m (0.2% each).

The breakdown of funding sources shows that households financed $1.8bn, or 48.8% of total healthcare spending in Lebanon, in 2015. Households contributed to the NSSF, the private insurance companies, the Civil Servants Cooperative, and the private and public mutual funds, as well as made direct payments to healthcare providers. Also, the Treasury financed $1.12bn, or 30.3% of healthcare expenditures, in 2015, followed by employers' contributions to the NSSF and to private insurers with $654.4m (17.7%), and extra-budgetary donations and loans with $120m (3.2%). The extra-budgetary donations and loans consisted of public investments in medical buildings and for equipping new hospitals and healthcare centers.