Damascus, Sanaa, Khartoum and Baghdad are among the ten worst cities in the world, Baghdad again occupying the bottom rank, according to Mercer’s 18th annual Quality of Living survey covering 230 cities worldwide.
Corruption, conflict and terrorism has severely impacted infrastucture, services and security in these cities.
Cities in the Gulf such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha were the top ranking Arab cities in the survey in terms of both quality of life and personal safety, all ranking in the top 100.
Beirut, which continues to grapple with a months-long garbage disposal crisis, ranked 181st in the survey.
Vienna continued its reign in the top spot for overall quality of living, followed by Zurich (2), Auckland (3), and Munich (4).
Vancouver (5) is North America’s highest ranking city, and Singapore is the highest ranking Asian city, holding 26th place.
Global centers London, Paris, Tokyo and New York City did not even make the top 30, lagging behind most big German, Scandinavian and Australian cities.
Mercer, a consulting firm, helps companies and organisations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff.
It uses dozens of criteria such as political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation and transport.
The data for the latest survey was analysed between September and November 2015, according to Mercer’s