Singapore is the 54th most liveable city in the world, below San Francisco (US), and a notch above Budapest (Hungrary). Its placing also puts it above cities like Seoul (58th) and Taipei (62nd), but below Hong Kong (39th), Osaka (13th) and Tokyo (19th).

Singapore's placing also makes it the 11th most liveable city in Asia, including cities in Australia and New Zealand.

Vancouver remains top of the league table, benefiting from strong Canadian infrastructure and Harare sits at the bottom thanks to the unfolding crisis in Zimbabwe.

The results are according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit global liveability survey, which has put cities in Australia, New Zealand and Japan close to the top of the ranking of 140 cities.

At the other end of the ranking, most of the poorest-performing locations are in Africa or Asia. Dhaka in Bangladesh is the lowest-scoring city in the region in joint 138th, just one place above last-place Harare.

Asia accounts for eight cities out of the top 20 (although these are found in just three countries: Australia, New Zealand and Japan) and ten cities out of the bottom 20.

Jon Copestake, editor of the report, said: "The performance of Asian cities reflects the diverse levels of development throughout the region. Australian cities represent many of the best aspects of liveability while instability in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh means that cities in South Asia fare much worse."