So which European countries came out on top? Unsurprisingly, Switzerland and Denmark took first and second place respectively, both having been previously voted as the ‘happiest’ place to live in the world.

Germany came in at third place, Sweden at fourth, and the Netherlands completed the top five. Britain lagged behind at number 10, with the average wage ringing in at a reasonable €41,000 (£31,867), but some of the highest living costs across all of Europe, meaning that our money doesn't stretch all that far.

“What matters ultimately for standard of living is the gap between the take-home pay and price levels,” continues Dr. Chamberlain. “Taking together both the income (after income tax) and the price-level (including value-added taxes or VAT) information, it is possible to derive an indication of after-tax, local purchasing-power-based, ‘standard of living’.”

Here’s a run-down of what makes the top five so special…

1. Switzerland

In Switzerland, the average city-based worker can afford to buy around twice as much as his or her equivalent in New York City - US standards of living are used as benchmarks for comparison, to indicate what it above or below average.

These are Europe’s five best countries ranked by quality of living