Rising pollution and risks to health have tainted Hong Kong's lure, according to a lifestyle survey that saw the Chinese territory plummet down a list of expatriates' favourite cities.

An aerial view shows the air pollution levels on Hong Kong island, September 2005. Rising pollution and risks to health have tainted Hong Kong's lure, according to a lifestyle survey that saw the Chinese territory plummet down a list of expatriates' favourite cities.[AFP]

Hong Kong came in at a lowly 32 in the world rankings of best places for Asian expats to live, slipping from 20th on the survey by human resources research company ECA International.

Rival Asian entrepot Singapore was considered the best place for overseas Asian workers to be based, followed by Australian cities Sydney and Melbourne.

Western European expatriates placed the Chinese city even lower, ranking it a derisory 66th behind Basle, Switzerland and the Danish capital Copenhagen at the top two spots.

War-torn Iraqi capital Baghdad came out as the worst location to live, followed by Kabul in Afghanistan and Karachi in Pakistan.

"Two primary concerns were raised against Hong Kong: its worsening pollution and the perception that health risks were increasing," ECA general manager Lee Quane told AFP.

"Air quality has become more important to expats over the past few years, and it is especially noted by people who have lived in other cities as well as Hong Kong," Quane added.

Rising industrialisation in China's neighbouring Pearl River delta, the burning of coal by Hong Kong's huge power stations and exhaust fumes from the city's creaking bus services have been blamed for a chronic rise in pollution levels in recent years.

A recent study by Friends of the Earth Hong Kong found the city's airport recorded one day of smog-related poor visibility in every 3.5 days last year, up from one in eight in 2002.

This year's edition of the annual ECA International survey was the company's largest, ranking 257 countries according to climate, natural disasters, health facilities and risks, transportation, quality and availability of goods and services, accommodation standards, education, recreation, crime and socio-political climate.

Quane said that Hong Kong scored low on health issues, with outbreaks of imported infectious disease such as Japanese encephalitis, illnesses connected to poor food hygiene and the ever-present threat of bird flu also weighing heavily on respondents' minds.

"Although the actual health risks in Hong Kong have not worsened, there is a perception that they have," he said.

"It also suffers by association with health issues in China, such as recent spills of poisons into local water supplies."

Quane said Hong Kong remained attractive to expatriates because of its low crime rates, free governance and good recreational facilities.

These factors made it China's most attractive city, ahead of Shanghai, which ranked 89th and Beijing, which ranked 106th.