Time for good news and encouragement to everyone anxiously hoping for an end to the Iranian attacks ... some of the reasons why we love the region and are happy to stay ... or return as quickly as possible!
Bahrain has moved up four places globally on the World Happiness Report, being placed 55th in the world and fourth amongst Gulf states.
The release of the 2026 edition of the annual report coincided with World Happiness Day, marked every March 20, in partnership between Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent editorial board.
It compared social support, GDP per capita, life expectancy, freedom, generosity, perception of corruption and emotional states in 147 countries.
“The World Happiness Report, and much of the growing interest in happiness research, exists thanks to Bhutan,” researchers noted.
“They sponsored Resolution 65/309 adopted by the UN General Assembly on July 19, 2011, which invited national governments to ‘give more importance to happiness and well-being in determining how to achieve and measure social and economic development.’
“Since our first edition in 2012, our reports have explored various themes related to global happiness including age, benevolence, migration, sustainable development, and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on global wellbeing.”
In 2025, Bahrain had been ranked 59th internationally and fifth in the GCC.
This year, in the Gulf, the UAE took the lead with a ranking of 21, followed by Saudi Arabia (22), Kuwait (40), Bahrain (55) and Oman (58).
Once again, Qatar is not included in the report.
Finland was ranked at the top spot for the ninth consecutive year followed by Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica and Sweden.
At the bottom of the index were Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
The US and the UK were ranked 23rd and 29th respectively.
“In general, most Western industrial countries are now less happy than they were between 2005 and 2010,” the report noted.
“Fifteen of them have had significant drops, compared to four with significant increases.”
The rankings are compiled annually based on responses from more than 100,000 people in more than 140 countries globally covering a range of factors including social support, freedom, generosity, emotions and benevolence.
Around 1,000 individuals from every country are polled to assess the average life evaluation in the nation and come up with an answer to a single question: “Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?”
Bahrain showed an overall average life evaluation of 6.254 out of 10 – an increase of 0.224 since 2025.
Social support was cited as a major contributor to Bahrain’s ranking, with 84.4 per cent of the sample in the kingdom responding positively to the question, “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?”
Approximately 94.1pc of respondents in Bahrain also noted that they felt satisfied with their freedom to choose what to do with their lives, and 56.6pc said they had donated to a charity recently.
This year’s report also focused on social media use in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, finding that it is among the highest in the world.
“Heavy use is more common than in other regions: between 20pc and 40pc of users reported more than five hours of use in 2023-2024,” the report added.
“Social media use is heavier among certain social groups. Gen Z, men, single individuals, less religious and more affluent respondents, as well as those with higher education, are much more likely to be heavy users.
“On average, heavy social media use (more than five hours per day) is associated with lower wellbeing. Heavy users are significantly more likely to report higher stress and depressive symptoms, and believe they are worse off than their parents, compared with non- or moderate users.
“The impact of heavy social media use on wellbeing depends on how it is used.
“Engaging with multiple platforms, relying on social media as a primary news source, and following influencers are associated with higher stress, increased depressive symptoms, and more negative comparisons with parents’ quality of life.”
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