Muscat: The World Happiness Report for 2025 has been released and the Sultanate of Oman has been ranked 52nd with a score of 6.147 out of 10, placing it fourth in the Arab World. The report is based on a three-year average of each population's quality of life assessment.
The Sultanate of Oman's ranking surpasses several major economies, including Japan (55), Korea (58), Bahrain (59), Malaysia (64), Türkiye (94), India (118) and Egypt (135).
In the Arab world, GCC's neighboring UAE (21) holds the top spot, followed by Kuwait (30) in second place and Saudi Arabia (32) in third. Bahrain, Libya, Algeria, and Iraq follow in the rankings.
The annual survey, compiled by Gallup, ranks 147 nations based on life satisfaction from 2022-2024. Finland retains its top spot for the eighth consecutive year, with an average score of 7.736.
Mexico and Costa Rica have entered the top 10, with the US ranking 24th.
Experts from economics, psychology, and sociology aim to explain the variations across countries and over time using factors such as GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.
These factors help to explain the differences across nations, while the rankings themselves are solely based on individuals' responses when asked to rate their own lives.
The report highlights that people tend to underestimate the kindness in their communities, as the return rate of lost wallets is higher than expected. Benevolent acts have increased by 10% from 2017-19 to 2024, across all generations and most global regions, despite a return towards pre-Covid levels.
There are significant differences in meal-sharing practices worldwide, with some countries having high rates of shared meals while others have meals alone. Sharing meals greatly impacts subjective well-being, similar to income and employment status. Those who share more meals report higher life satisfaction and positive emotions, regardless of age, gender, country, culture, or region.
Family size also plays a role in life satisfaction, with couples living with children or extended family members reporting higher levels of happiness. Individuals living alone tend to have lower levels of happiness, while those in very large households may also experience diminished economic satisfaction.
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