Singapore has retained its position as the Asian city with the highest quality of living, according to human resources consulting firm Mercer's 20th annual Quality of Living survey. It was 25th globally.

Using data analysed largely between September and November last year, the annual ranking tracked 231 cities to enable multinational companies and other organisations to compensate employees fairly on international assignments.

Said Mr Mario Ferraro, Mercer's global mobility practice leader for Asia, Middle East, Africa and Turkey: "The best liveable cities can attract executives in multinational businesses.

"There are few success stories like Singapore, which went from Third World economy to First World within a single generation and is primed for the future of work."

Globally, Vienna topped the ranking for the ninth year, with Swiss city Zurich in second spot. Munich and Auckland were joint third.

Despite economic volatility in Europe, many of its cities still offer the world's highest quality of living, Mercer said.

In Asia, Japanese cities rounded out the top three, with Tokyo and Kobe joint second and 50th globally, and Yokohama in third (55th globally).

Among cities in China, Hong Kong ranked 71st globally, while Shanghai and Beijing ranked 103rd and 119th respectively.

Seoul fell three places to 79th due to the ongoing political instability in the region, Mercer said.

Within South-east Asia, Kuala Lumpur - ranked 85th globally - was second in the region, while Bangkok (132th) took third position. The Pacific region fared strongly with Sydney ranking 10th globally, Wellington in 15th place, and Melbourne in 16th place, making it into the top 20 globally.

In North America, Canadian city Vancouver, which ranked fifth globally, took the top spot, while Uruguayan capital Montevideo (77th) was the highest-ranking Latin American city.