Bahrain has slightly improved its ranking on a happiness index by moving up three places this year, according a new report.
The World Happiness Report 2025 placed Bahrain at 59th position among 147 countries; the kingdom ranked 62 out of 143 countries in 2024, 42 out of 137 in 2023 and 21 out of 146 nations in 2022.
The report, launched yesterday to mark International Day of Happiness, was a partnership between Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent editorial board.
In the Gulf, the UAE took the lead with a ranking of 21, followed by Kuwait (30), Saudi Arabia (32), Oman (52) and Bahrain; Qatar is not included in the report this year.
A breakdown of Bahrain’s rankings in the report over the years
Finland was ranked at the top spot for the eighth consecutive year followed by Denmark and Iceland, while Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan languished at the bottom.
The US finished at 24 – its lowest rank since the report was launched 13 years ago.
Every Nordic country found itself in the top 10, which also included Costa Rica.
The rankings were compiled based on responses from more than 100,000 people globally that covered social support, freedom, generosity, positive emotions, donation etc. It took into account three-year average of life evaluations, from 2022 to 2024.
Data collected in the report was used for a measure of benevolence for each country. This included reporting benevolent acts – donating, volunteering and helping a stranger.
Specifically, the ‘wallet questions’ asked respondents to say how likely it is that their lost wallet or other valuable object would be returned if found by a neighbour, a stranger or a police officer.
A further breakdown of Bahrain’s ranking based on responses showed that 31 individuals helped a stranger, 23 said their wallet would be returned by a neighbour, nine said it would be returned by a stranger and 17 said a police officer would be the one to hand it over.
Graphs indicating Bahrain’s improvement in the benevolence and emotions parameters
“Global evidence on the perceived and actual return of lost wallets shows that people are much too pessimistic about the kindness of their communities compared to reality,” stated the report.
“Actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect.
“Believing that others are willing to return your lost wallet is shown to be a strong predictor of population happiness.”
The report warned that trends towards increased loneliness are most evident among young people.
In 2023, 19 per cent of young adults across the world reported having no one they could count on for social support – a 39pc increase compared to 2006.
“The findings in this year’s World Happiness Report reconfirm a fundamental truth: happiness is rooted in trust, kindness and social connection,” said the report’s founding editor Jeffery Sachs.
“It is up to us, as virtuous individuals and citizens, to translate this vital truth into positive action, thereby fostering peace, civility and wellbeing in communities worldwide.”
sandy@gdnmedia.bh
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