Dublin may get too much rain and too little sunshine but at least it’s not Baghdad, which has just been ranked as the city with the lowest quality of living in the world.

The Mercer 2014 Quality of Living Rankings has placed Dublin in 34th place on a list of 223 cities, placing it ahead of London and Tokyo. Dublin’s educational facilities, low levels of air pollution and recreational and social activities were among the factors that contributed to its ranking.

The consultancy group conducts its survey annually to help multinational firms compensate expatriates when placing them on international assignments.

Dublin was ranked in 25th place in the quality of living survey in 2009 but has steadily fallen down the list in the years since.

European cites dominate the top of the list with Vienna voted as the city with the world’s best quality of living, followed by Zurich, Auckland, Munich and Vancouver. Germany scored particularly highly with Dusseldorf and Frankfurt ranked in 6th and 7th place respectively.

“European cities enjoy a high overall quality of living compared to those in other regions. Healthcare, infrastructure, and recreational facilities are generally of a very high standard. Political stability and relatively low crime levels enable expatriates to feel safe and secure in most locations. The region has seen few changes in living standards over the last year,” said Noel O’Connor, a senior consultant with Mercer in Ireland.

Tbilisi in Georgia was the lowest-ranking European city. Other European cities at the bottom of the rankings include Minsk, Belarus, Yerevan, Tirana and St Petersburg, Russia.

Canadian cities dominate North America’s top-five list. Ranking fifth globally, Vancouver topped the regional list, followed by Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and San Francisco .

The region’s lowest-ranking city is Mexico City, preceded by four US cities: Detroit, St. Louis, Houston and Miami.

In Central and South America, the quality of living was found to vary substantially with Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe, the region’s highest-ranked city, followed by San Juan , Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and Santiago.

Singapore was ranked as having the highest quality of living in Asia, followed by four Japanese cities: Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama and Osaka. Dushanbe in Tajikistan, was the lowest-ranking city in the region.

With a global rank of 73, Dubai was the highest-ranked city in the Middle East and Africa region. It was followed by Abu Dhabi, Port Louis, Mauritius, Durban and Cape Town.