The survey, which lists the top 25 liveable cities in the world, attributes the bump-up to the lowering cost of living in the republic.

"A compact city-state that is reliant on global trade, Singapore has been hit by the worldwide economic slowdown. But falling prices, from property to cars and electricity, are making the city more affordable," said the magazine in its July/August issue, which hit the newstands today.

The magazine also gave a thumbs-up to Singapore's F1 night race, the upcoming casinos, green spaces, nightlife, airport and flight connections, "world-beating" medical facilities, all which make it "a pleasant home for people of all backgrounds." For a better ranking, Monocle suggested that the republic encourage more media freedom.

Singapore is the third Asian city in the list, after Tokyo (no. 3) and Fukuoka (no. 16). It is also the only South-east Asian city mentioned. Zurich topped the list this year, followed by Copenhagen.

Monocle measures cities based on factors like public transport, education, cultural outlets, crime, hours of sunshine and global flight connections.

This year it also takes into account the ease of opening a business, major infrastructure improvements currently underway, and "chain store pollution", or the prevalence of international brands such as Zara and Starbucks.

Singapore had ranked 17 when the survey first came out in 2007, but slipped in the Monocle rankings last year thanks to a lack of tolerance, said its editor Tyler Brule.

He had remarked in a Straits Times interview last year: 'If Singapore wants to push itself from a creativity perspective and wants to build a greater design community, you don't have to read Richard Florida's book on the creative class to know that cities need to be much more tolerant of other lifestyles, be they gay or otherwise.'

The slippage prompted the government to invite him to Singapore last year to share ideas on how Singapore could improve. In another liveable cities survey announced earlier this month, Singapore was ranked 54th in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and the best among Southeast Asia.