Amid all the stories of travel bans, phonehacks and dead celebrities (RIP Chuck Berry), there was finally some good news this week as Norway was announced as being the ‘official’ happiest place on earth, and with the UAE coming out top of countries in the Arab World, according to the UN World Happiness Report.
The UN report compiles data over three years and takes into effect several factors including health, state of the economy and polling information. Norway reigned supreme followed by its Nordic neighbours Denmark and Iceland (which only recovered from a complete financial meltdown six years ago). The watch obessed people of Switzerland came in fourth and Finland, the home of Angry Birds, rounded off the Top 5.
Serenely for the third consecutive year the UAE has come in as the happiest country in the Arab World, and at an overall position of 21st worldwide. The UAE also had a good showing in terms of global rankings for people’s good health (1st), satisfaction with economy (2nd) and comfort (4th).
GCC neighbours Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain overall ranked 35, 37, 39 and 41, respectively.
Even His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai tweeted the news adding ‘We are also ranked first globally regarding the satisfaction of residents from other countries,”. The National Agenda of the UAE Vision 2021 launched by Shaikh Mohammad is seen as the main contributor to the UAE’s continued success on the happiness report.
الإمارات الأولى عربيا في آخر 3 سنوات .. وشعب الإمارات من أسعد 12 شعبا في العالم، ونحن الأول عالميا في مؤشر رضى الأفراد المقيمين من دول أخرى
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) March 20, 2017
Invariably the UAE is the first country in the world to appoint a happiness minister and has launched initiatives across the country including happiness ambassadors, happiness counters and happiness indexes.