Mercer’s annual Quality of Living Survey helps multinational companies and governments compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. The 2011 survey covered 221 cities, ranking them based on 39 criteria key to expatriate living. The survey also identified cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime levels, law enforcement effectiveness and the host country’s international relations.

“Companies need to keep on top of current developments to ensure that their compensation packages remain competitive and continue to motivate expatriate employees,” said Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer. “That means reviewing major events, such as social unrest, economic turmoil or natural disasters and their impact on the success of overseas placements.”

He added, “The top-ranking cities for personal safety are in politically stable countries with good international relations and relatively sustainable economic growth. Most of the low-scoring cities are in countries with civil unrest, high crime levels and little law enforcement.”

See how major cities worldwide rank on personal safety.

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For more information about this survey, visit www.imercer.com/qolpr.