But why do we need Mercer to tell us life is better in Vienna?

Your average multi national is not going to think "Where shall we send Jones this year?" Obviously not Paris this year, better send him to Vienna.

It really is total bollocks, and Mercer isn't the only one. The only one's that benefit are the removal companies.

With the difficulty in finding accommodation in Geneva and Zurich, I am really surprised they occur anywhere on any list.

Not only that..try simple mundane things, such as cough sirup after 8pm, a plunger, listerine...a indoor runnning track...etc. It's pathetic to even consider them cities as viable options for such a statistic.

Because Mercer does not tell you that. IT IS NOT ABOUT HOW GOOD YOUR LIFE IS:

Mercer tells multinational companies how to adjust their salaries.

The ones who go to Baghdad will get a higher risk-compensation than the ones who go to Frankfurt. And so on.

Then whom decides Vienna is "Better" than Basel?

And why were Oslo and Athens removed from the list this year?

It is a lot more than a salary guide.