Abu Dhabi has clinched the number one spot for an impressive eighth time in a row…
Numbeo, the global statistics platform, has released the findings from its mid-year 2024 survey on quality of life across different regions worldwide.
The survey calculates an overall ‘quality of life’ score, factoring in various elements that combine to give you that feeling of, ‘You know what, this place is actually pretty great.’
Quality of life indicators cover aspects like cost of living, healthcare, climate, traffic, pollution, and safety. Crime, along with its counterpart ‘perceived safety,’ plays a major role in determining how much you’ll enjoy living in a particular area.
When you check out the crime/safety index from the Numbeo survey, Abu Dhabi is once again at the top of the list for the eighth time in a row. Out of 318 cities, it’s no shock that Abu Dhabi continues to lead the pack.
Rock-solid safe
Thanks to their consistently low crime rates, three other UAE cities made it into the top 10 safest cities worldwide. Ajman secured second place, Dubai ranked fifth, and Ras Al Khaimah earned a commendable seventh spot.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Pietermaritzburg and Pretoria in South Africa, along with Caracas, Venezuela, round out the bottom three.
The UAE secured second place out of 146 in the global safety rankings, just narrowly edged out by the small Pyrenean nation of Andorra.
How are the figures calculated?
Respondents of the survey were posed the following questions and asked to rate their answers on a good to ‘eh maybe not so good’ scale.
- How serious do you perceive the level of crime to be?
- How has the level of crime changed over the past three years?
- How safe do you feel walking during the day?
- How safe do you feel walking at night?
- How worried are you about being mugged or robbed?
- How concerned are you about having your car stolen or items stolen from it?
- How worried are you about being physically attacked by strangers?
- How concerned are you about being insulted or harassed in public?
- How worried are you about being attacked due to your skin color, ethnic origin, gender, or religion?
- How significant is the problem of drug use and dealing in your area?
- How serious is the issue of property crime?
- How serious is the issue of violent crime?
Overall quality of life
In terms of overall quality of life, the top cities were in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, as well as Scandinavian and Australasian countries. The Hague in the Netherlands clinched the City MVP title.
Abu Dhabi ranked 17th out of 178 cities overall, making it the highest-ranked city in the region.
Manila in the Philippines received the lowest score for quality of life indicators, just behind Lagos in Nigeria and Beirut in Lebanon.
How reliable is this information?
This sort of survey-based study is genuinely considered one of the best ways of comparing country-to-country or international city to international city because the data gathered is relatively low in collection bias.
It’s important to note that Numbeo has indicated that the data used can be up to 36 months old. This means that while the survey provides valuable insights, the information may not always reflect the most current conditions or recent changes.
