Auckland and Wellington are among the top 12 places in the world to live, according to an annual ranking of the world's cities by quality of living.
Mercer's annual Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, covering 215 cities, helps governments and multinational companies place employees on international assignments.
Each city is ranked based on 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport and other public services.
Cities are compared with New York, which has a base index score of 100.
Zurich was ranked the best city to live in, while Baghdad was the worst.
Auckland and Wellington both moved up the rankings this year. Auckland went from eighth last year to fifth, on a score of 107.3, and Wellington moved up from 14th to 12th with a score of 105.8.
The moves were mainly due to strong internal stability relative to other cities.
Best and worst
1. Zurich, Switzerland.
2. Geneva, Switzerland.
3. Vancouver, Canada.
4. Vienna, Austria.
5. AUCKLAND, New Zealand.
6. Dusseldorf, Germany.
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Munich, Germany.
9= Sydney, Australia.
9= Bern, Switzerland.
12. WELLINGTON, New Zealand.
17. Melbourne, Australia.
24. Dublin, Ireland.
27. Honolulu, United States.
33. Paris, France.
35. Tokyo, Japan.
39. London, England.
46. New York, United States.
215. Baghdad, Iraq.
- NZPA
Auckland number 5 in world for lifestyle
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