Business leaders in Birmingham have expressed their disappointment after the city failed to rise up the rankings of the world’s most desirable places to live.

Mercer’s 2009 quality of living global city rankings saw three British cities leading the way as top locations with Birmingham and Glasgow tied in 56th place while London was placed 38th.

The ranking is based on a points-scoring index in which 215 global cities are pitted against New York city’s base rank of 100.

Richard Boot, West Midlands chairman of the Institute of Directors, said he was “disappointed” that Birmingham had seemingly made no progress since last year.

He said: “This is a city with a great deal going for it – a hard-working, sleeves-rolled-up city. It is known for its friendliness – it does not take long for a newcomer to be welcomed and accepted.

“It is a young multi-cultural city with excellent communications and beautiful countryside around it. These advantages deserve greater recognition.”

This year, the category of Best Infrastructure was included in the scoring system, with Birmingham ranked at 45th in the world.

The measures for rating infrastructure included electricity and water supply and availability, telephone and mail services, public transport provision, traffic congestion and the range of international flights from local airports. Singapore reached the top of this index with Vienna, in Austria, topping the overall rankings as the city with the best quality of living in the world.

Some Birmingham business leaders have said the city could do more to improve its ranking, and it is not just a case of assets being ignored.

James Watkins, chief executive of West Midlands Business Council, said: “Birmingham is punching its weight in the global city contest and that is good news as it seeks to weather the current global economic crisis.

“But there is so much more we could do to make the city world-class, such as a better transport network, superb broadband access and higher skills levels. Then we could be right up there with the likes of Dusseldorf and Vancouver. This must be our aim for the future.”

Europe dominated the overall rankings with Switzerland and Germany gaining three cities each in the top ten and retaining last year’s rankings. Zurich came home in second place, followed by Geneva (3), Dusseldorf (6), Munich (7), Frankfurt (8) and Bern (9).

In the Best Infrastructure index, German cities again did well with Munich the highest-ranked in Europe (2), followed by Dusseldorf (6) and Frankfurt in joint eighth with London.

London’s high ranking in the infrastructure index reflects the high level of public services offered, with its extensive public transport network and wide variety of telecommunication services, while Baghdad had the lowest-ranking city infrastructure.