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Aberdeenshire has been named as the place in Scotland which offers the best quality of life for the second year running.

The area came out ahead of Shetland, East Dunbartonshire and East Lothian in the annual Bank of Scotland study.

It offers rankings for health and life expectancy, employment, school performance and climate.

The other areas in the top 10 were East Renfrewshire, Orkney, Moray, Midlothian, Aberdeen and the Borders.

Aberdeenshire was said to rate highly as residents tend to be fit and well, with 93% reporting good health; the employment rate and pay is high; and the weather is better than in other areas.

Nitesh Patel, economist at the Bank of Scotland, said: "Aberdeenshire again tops the Bank of Scotland survey for 2010.

"Aberdeenshire scores highly relative to the average for Scotland on several indicators, such as health, life expectancy, employment, average earnings, school results and climate.

"Two of the top 10 areas for quality of life lie off the Scottish mainland - the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands - and five are in the north of the country.

"These areas score well on high employment rates, low population densities and burglary rates, small class sizes and good secondary school exam results."

Runner-up Shetland's residents were ranked as having the best quality of life in the 2008 survey.