Quality of life
The Netherlands is proud to have a high standard of living, while maintaining an affordable life for its residents. The costs of living, housing, education and cultural activities are lower than in most Western-European countries.
The population of the Netherlands is very diverse: Amsterdam is home to the highest number of different nationalities worldwide. To serve these nationalities the Netherlands has many international schools, 17 primary and 23 secondary international schools. (www.sio.nl)
The high quality of life is reflected in the number of museums; the Netherlands has worlds highest density of museums and is home to world renowned museums as the Van Gogh museum, Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis, The Hague.
| Quality of life index | ||
| ranking | city | country |
| 1 | Vienna | Austria |
| 2 | Bern | Switzerland |
| 3 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 4 | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| 5 | Brussels | Belgium |
| 6 | Berlin | Germany |
| 7 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
| 8 | Stockholm | Sweden |
| 9 | Oslo | Norway |
| 10 | Dublin | Ireland |
| 11 | Paris | France |
| 12 | Helsinki | Finland |
| 13 | London | United Kingdom |
| Source: Mercer 2010 | ||