Sofia is the worst to live in capital in the European Union, shows the annual survey of consulting firm (Mercer), showing the quality of life in major cities worldwide.

City infrastructure, ranked separately this year, plays an important role when multinational companies decide where to establish locations abroad and send expatriate workers. Easy access to transportation, reliable electricity, and drinkable water are all important considerations when determining hardship allowances based on differences between a given assignee’s home and host locations.

According to data from 231 countries, Sofia is taking 116 place together with Asuncion (Paraguay) and Rabat (Morocco). The nearest city in the ranking of EU is Bucharest (107), while the best position in Eastern Europe is Prague (69).

Western European cities also hold most of the top ten places in the city infrastructure ranking with Frankfurt and Munich jointly ranking 2nd worldwide, followed by Copenhagen (4) and Dusseldorf (5). London is in 6th place, and Hamburg and Zurich both rank 9th. Ranking lowest across Europe are Sarajevo (171) and Tirana (188).

Vienna is taking the first place for high quality of life, the authors of the report estimate that 1.8M people, living in the Austrian capital are enjoying not only security and good job opportunities, but also the rich historical and architectural heritage of the country.