Auckland is 3rd Most Liveable City in Mercer 2014 Quality of Living List (VIDEOS)

YouTube/Lonely Planet

Auckland, New Zealand's financial centre, is the third most liveable city in the world, according to the list released on Thursday by Mercier. Topping the 2014 Quality of Living list are Vienna and Zurich, 1^st and 2^nd placer, respectively.

It is the second year that Auckland - also known as the City of Sails - placed third on Mercier's list, which reinforced New Zealand's attraction to expatriates.

Following the release of the list, Brett O'Riley, chief executive of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, said the recognition is another feather in the city's cap.

Mercer draws the yearly list to help multinational companies determine a fair pay for their employees who are assigned overseas. It takes into account several factors such as political stability, crime statistics, public and medical services, consumer goods and recreation.

YouTube/mercervideo

On 4^th place is Munich in Germany and in 5^th spot is Vancouver, Canada.

Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer, said, "In a world economy that is becoming globalised, cities beyond the traditional financial and business centres are working to improve their quality of living so they can attract more foreign companies. This year's survey recognises so-called 'second-tier' or 'emerging cities' and points to a few examples from around the world. These cities have been investing massively in their infrastructure and attracting foreign direct investments by providing incentives such as tax, housing, or entry facilities. Emerging cities will become major players that traditional financial centres and capital cities will have to compete with."

By continent, besides Vienna, other European cities high on the list are Dusseldorf (6^th) and Frankfurt (7^th) in Germany.

In the Americans, after Vancouver, three other Canadian cities rank well, namely Ottawa (14^th), Toronto (15^th) and Montreal (223^rd), while San Francisco is in 27^th place.

Singapore, in 25^th place, is the highest-ranked Asia Pacific city, followed by four from Japan: Tokyo (43^rd), Kobe (47^th), Yokohama (49^th) and Osaka (57^th). Australia's Sydney is in 10^th spot.

On the extreme end, listed 233^rd is Baghdad in Iraq.