Abu Dhabi ranks 1st among Arab cities and 35th globally in 2020 World Happiness Report

Abu Dhabi has been ranked first among Arab cities in the latest edition of the World Happiness Report 2020, an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network made in partnership with the Gallup World Poll, an American analytics and advisory company.

The emirate, which has also been ranked in the 35th place of the report, bested numerous cities from across the globe as the report covers 186 cities in total. Moreover, the UAE continued to maintain a leading global position in the index with a 21st place ranking, outperforming many advanced countries and economies. This year's report reviewed the happiness of individuals across 156 different countries. 

H.E. Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), said: “The results of this year's World Happiness Report demonstrates Abu Dhabi's leading global position and the high trust and confidence that society has placed in the emirate. The extensive efforts and initiatives undertaken by Abu Dhabi’s wise leadership and government, in cooperation with all public and private entities, continue to contribute to the happiness of community members and the enhancement of efforts to achieve sustainable development, sparing no effort in promoting individuals’ happiness and ensure their access to all means of wellbeing, increasing their trust in the emirate and enhancing Abu Dhabi’s profile as the destination of choice for working and living."

Al Shorafa explained that the high ranking remains proof of the emirate's continued progress, both at regional and global levels. It also reflects Abu Dhabi's ability to boost the levels of happiness and wellbeing among community members in line with the goals of achieving sustainable development and maintaining a quality of life that falls under the standards set forth in the global sustainability agenda.

H.E. Rashed Abdul Karim Al Balooshi, Undersecretary of ADDED, said: "This major achievement, wherein Abu Dhabi ranks first regionally and the UAE being ranked 21st globally, proves the success and significance of the country's directives towards growth and development, in line with the vision of the wise leadership led by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, aimed at enhancing the happiness of community members and putting it among the top priorities while ensuring their access to all means of wellbeing and happiness."

Al Balooshi further added, "The report serves as an additional tool for governments, business and civil societies in obtaining essential information to help countries improve and enhance the happiness of individuals, including the move to find better and innovative ways to maintain the wellbeing of society. In line with this, ADDED is keen on taking advantage of the report’s results in the move towards enhancing the emirate's competitiveness driven by its key role as a leading government entity of Abu Dhabi."

For the first time ever, this year's report features individual's happiness index based on city rankings, which did not reflect significant differences between cities and countries in terms of individual happiness. The report, which covers both urban and rural areas, showed that city residents are happier than their counterparts in the rural and remote areas, specifically across those residing in low-income countries. The report also identified contradictory results in high-income countries. 

The report, which relied on a series of indices, includes six core variables: gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, social support, overall health life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity (measured by recent donations) and trust. 

The 2020 World Happiness Report, which aims at throwing the spotlight on individuals' quality of life, was measured on a scale of zero to ten, with ten representing the best possible life and zero representing the worst. The report is the results of computed averages for the years 2014 to 2016, providing a typical national sample size of 3,000 people across a cycle of three years. Data is collated and classified based on the 155 countries covered in the report. 

The happiness scores featured in the report represent resident populations in each country regardless of citizenship. The report is a standard census exercise that includes all the world's population in the survey, as appropriate for the full accounting of global happiness.