Port Louis ranks 83rd globally in the overall Quality of Living, making it the best city in Africa
- Durban retains its top position as the best city in South Africa

Mercer (Mercer.com), a global consulting leader in advancing health, wealth and careers, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), ranks Port Louis the best city in Africa, according to their 2018 Quality of Living Survey. Port Louis is in 83rd place in the global rankings and number one in Africa. The Mauritian city is followed by Durban (89), Cape Town (94) and Johannesburg (95).

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Africa’s top city

“Similar to the 2017 rankings Port Louis retains its top position for Africa with Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg ranking just below the island city, according to our Quality of Living ranking. Quality of living is amongst the important factors that companies weigh when they prepare a long-term strategy around where they should expand and locate global staff,” said Carl Van Heerden, Principal at Mercer and Global Mobility Leader for Africa.

Van Heerden added :  “A city’s place in the rankings is dependent on local living conditions, which are analysed according to a wide variety of factors which reflect their importance to expatriates. Appropriate infrastructure, health facilities, safety and security are some of the important aspects that make a city attractive to both talent and businesses.” 

The Mercer Quality of Living survey, which was first published in 1994, is conducted annually to enable multinational companies and other organisations to compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments.

Global ranking

Vienna tops the ranking for the 9th year running and is followed by Zurich (2), Auckland and Munich in joint 3rd place. In 5th place, Vancouver completes the top five and is the highest ranking city in North America. Singapore (25), Dubai (74) and Montevideo (77), are the highest ranking cities in Asia, Middle East and Latin America, respectively. 

This year, Mercer provides a separate ranking on City Sanitation, which analyses cities’ waste removal and sewage infrastructure, levels of infectious disease, air pollution, water availability and quality, which are equally important to those who choose to work and live in these cities.

Victoria (58th) ranks highest on the African continent for City Sanitation, followed by Durban (73) and Port Louis (80). Johannesburg is in 81st place, while Cape Town is at 84 on the City Sanitation list.

Honolulu tops the City Sanitation ranking, followed by Helsinki and Ottawa in joint second.

Van Heerden concludes: “Mercer’s Quality of Living survey has become a critical point of reference for multinational companies, which need a full view of the conditions on the ground when considering assigning mobile employees. Our methodology allows multinational employers to provide their expatriates with fair and consistent expatriate compensation packages, when looking to expand into other markets.”

Mercer produces individual cost of living and rental accommodation cost reports for each city surveyed.

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