Dublin has been ranked 35th in a survey carried out by British human resources consultancy William M Mercer which compared the quality of life in 215 cities worldwide.
Vancouver in Canada and Zurich in Switzerland shared the top spot, with Vienna in Austria third. Dublin was ranked ahead of London, New York and Madrid.
The survey by evaluated the cities on 39 criteria ranging from entertainment to environment.
But Dublin came only 73rd in the recreational facilities category, which scored cities based on restaurants, musical and theatrical performances, leisure clubs and sports facilities.
In the public transport and traffic category, however, Dublin ranked 37th worldwide and seventh in Europe. Copenhagen was top in this section.
However, a major Small Firms Association survey, also published today, has found that the time taken for 5kg of goods to travel five kilometres in Dublin is the worst in the developed world. It takes 57 minutes to move 5kg of goods over the distance in Dublin. This compares to only 13 in London and nine in Singapore.
Calcutta was the only city that was slower - most deliveres are made on foot or on public transport there.
