Singapore's improvements in livability are the ninth best in Asia

From 1998 to 2018, it improved its livability score by 4.7%.

Mercer’s 2018 Quality of Living survey revealed that in the span of 20 years, Singapore was able to its livability score by 4.7%, making it the ninth best grower in Asia. This improvement is important for companies when relocating their executives from one country another, the company revealed.

Mercer global mobility practice leader in Asia Mario Ferraro told Singapore Business Review, “Singapore’s strengths in quality of living and infrastructure consistently outperform the other cities in Asia and these factors continue to be important considerations for companies when relocating executives from one country to another, as well as for determining hardship allowances that are fair and consistent,” he said.

Shanghai (+15.7%) and New Delhi (+13.8%) showed the highest growth in livability in Asia. Mercer said China and India have made considerable investments in the physical infrastructure of its cities, including airports, public transport networks, and broadband and mobile phone connections. “The percentage shown is the difference in the total index between 1998 and 2018 overall quality of living calculations by taking New York as a base city,” it added.

Ferraro noted that when deciding where to set-up business hubs, most organizations will look at a wide variety of factors, including the availability of talent, infrastructure, legal and governance environment, and many others. “In the Asian context, Singapore has ranked very positively in many of the factors that are important to such organizations. As a result, Singapore has been consistently able to attract both organizations AND the talent that they require, leading the country to become a great success story and a very important international hub, despite its relatively small size,” he added.

In 2018, Singapore remains the most liveable city in Asia. In the world rankings, it also stayed in 25th place.

“The factors making Singapore an attractive location for expatriate have remained stable since last year, in absolute terms. When another location moves even slightly up or down the ranks, this movement affects the ranking of other locations in the list. Despite many locations improving their ranks in this year’s QoL, Singapore managed to retain a stable position in the rankings,” Ferraro added.

He also said that Singapore could potentially outperform other cities due to its competitiveness. “This is also because there are also other factors that make Singapore an ideal environment for setting up business, over and above the ability to attract talent. At the same time it is important to remember that many other cities continue to improve their infrastructure, governance and business environment, in an effort to become more attractive investment locations,” he concluded.