the bayt.com happiness in the middle east survey...the bayt.com happiness in the middle east survey...

The Bayt.com Happinessin the Middle East Survey

December 2016

Objective

§ The research was conducted to understand the current level of happiness and satisfaction in

the MENA region. The key information areas covered in this research were:

§ Satisfaction with elements of personal life that impact happiness

§ Satisfaction with elements of professional life that impact happiness

§ Satisfaction with elements related to country of residence

§ Satisfaction with current health and wellbeing

§ Overall satisfaction with life

RESEARCH METHODOLOGYSection 1

Sample definition

Age and Gender:Adult males and femalesAged 18 plus years

Nationalities:

GCC Arabs, North Africans, Levantines, Western expats, and Asians

Country of Residence

GCC: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain

Levant: Lebanon, Syria*, and Jordan

North Africa: Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia*country results for Syria are not shown due to small base; note, however, that results for total sample still include Syria

Data Collection

All data were collected online. Fieldwork was done between 6th and 22nd December 2016. The total number of respondents is 3,747.

*small base/ read with caution

RESEARCH FINDINGSSection 2

Overall Summary 1/3• Personal Life

– On an overall level, respondents from the MENA region are satisfied with their current mental and physical

health with 65% and 49% expressing they are ‘extremely satisfied’, respectively.

– 55% claim they are extremely satisfied with the current relationship they have with their family.

– Lowest level of satisfaction comes from current standard of living across all countries except in Qatar for which

‘financial independence’ emerged as the least satisfactory element that affects their personal life. Financial

independence also emerged as the least satisfactory element in Bahrain.

• Professional Life

– In general, respondents are not very satisfied with the various elements related to their professional life.

– Across the region, only 9% of respondents claim they are extremely satisfied with the remuneration they are

receiving. This aspect appears to be the least satisfactory element of respondents’ professional life, in general.

– Availability of opportunities for career advancement and amount of pressure/ stress at work also tend to be

less satisfactory for respondents than other elements of their professional life.

– Only 18% claim they are ‘extremely satisfied’ with their current work-life balance.

– Satisfaction with current job is low across the region with only 9% saying they are ‘extremely satisfied’;

satisfaction with current job is lowest in Tunisia (only 2% extremely satisfied).

Overall Summary 2/3

• Current Country of Residence

– Employment opportunities and cost of living appear to be the least satisfactory aspects for respondents in the

country where they currently live.

– Among the factors of living tackled in the survey related to their country of residence, ‘comfortable weather’

emerged as the most positive in North Africa with respondents in the region expressing the highest satisfaction

on this aspect.

– In comparison to others, GCC respondents have much higher levels of satisfaction on most of the attributes

with the following receiving the highest scores: general safety and security and the availability of utilities.

• Other Aspects of life

– The top 5 most important factors that impact general happiness are:

• Employment opportunities

• General safety and security

• Leading a stable financial life

• Ability to maintain healthy personal relationships

• Low cost of living

Overall Summary 3/3

– When asked about current levels of stress that they have in their everyday life, about 1 in 5 expressed they are

‘extremely stressed’ (21%). The key contributors to stress are increasing cost of living and the current economic

situation in their country of residence.

– 77% of the respondents claim they are in good health. In fact, 60% claim they do not suffer from any chronic

illnesses while 19% claim they suffer from stress-related diseases such as depression and anxiety.

• Overall Satisfaction

– Only 16% of respondents mentioned they are extremely satisfied with their life in general.

PERSONAL LIFESection 2A

Personal Life Elements That Impact Happiness

All figures are %’s

Q. Given below are some elements that people claim are important to their PERSONAL LIFE and have a direct impact on their happiness and wellbeing. On a scale of 1 – 5 , where 1 is ‘Extremely Dissatisfied’ and 5 is ‘Extremely Satisfied’, please specify your level of satisfaction on each of these elements.

Top 2 satisfaction box

TotalGCC Levant North Africa

KSA UAE Kuwait Qatar Bahrain Oman Lebanon Jordan Egypt Morocco Algeria Tunisia

Mental wellbeing 87 90 82 77 78 81 88 76 91 86 86 94 92

Relationship with family 83 83 86 84 86 83 83 83 82 81 79 87 92

Current physical health 82 79 84 79 79 87 78 82 87 82 81 87 83

Independence to take own decisions 77 78 76 69 73 75 83 74 80 75 75 85 82

Freedom to socialize (i.e. make friends)

67 63 74 63 71 72 68 72 67 62 69 70 82

Support received from family 66 66 71 67 78 64 71 68 65 60 58 73 71

Freedom of expression 64 65 69 61 69 60 63 67 67 56 66 73 72

Opportunities to socialize 53 45 60 53 63 66 65 67 58 50 54 53 65

Current standard of living 52 54 58 56 61 53 62 40 50 50 39 56 51

Financial independence 49 49 56 54 55 57 57 40 47 50 34 53 43

Freedom to follow one’s beliefs 43 40 63 48 63 64 51 66 45 40 26 38 39

Base: Total (3,747)

Personal Life Elements That Impact Happiness


Q. Given below are some elements that people claim are important to their PERSONAL LIFE and have a direct impact on their happiness and wellbeing. On a scale of 1 – 5 , where 1 is ‘Extremely Dissatisfied’ and 5 is ‘Extremely Satisfied’, please specify your level of satisfaction on each of these elements.

Extremely Satisfied Total

GCC Levant North Africa


Mental wellbeing 65 70 51 53 49 58 61 48 62 60 73 81 77

Relationship with family 55 56 58 47 65 49 51 49 49 54 55 59 63

Current physical health 49 50 47 32 51 47 45 43 45 47 55 60 52

Independence to take own decisions 42 45 39 35 41 45 35 39 35 42 41 47 44

Support received from family 36 37 43 34 50 42 39 32 28 32 32 41 45

Freedom of expression 32 34 32 26 35 36 24 32 30 28 36 39 30


31 29 41 21 39 45 34 28 26 32 30 29 32

Freedom to follow one’s beliefs 21 21 32 22 31 34 28 30 21 20 10 19 17

Financial independence 20 20 22 18 19 26 18 16 19 22 15 22 13


Current standard of living 15 19 15 15 21 26 10 6 9 17 9 15 9

Base: Total (3,747)

Personal Life Elements

Algeria(479)

Egypt(999)

Mental wellbeing

Relationship with family

Current physical health

Support received from family

Independence to take own decisions


Freedom of expression

Freedom to follow one’s beliefs

Financial independence

Opportunities to socialize

Current standard of living


Q. Given below are some elements that people claim are important to their PERSONAL LIFE and have a direct impact on their happiness and wellbeing. On a scale of 1 – 5 where 1 is ‘Extremely Dissatisfied’ and 5 is ‘Extremely Satisfied’, please specify your level of satisfaction on each of these elements.

Extremely DissatisfiedSomewhat Dissatisfied

Extremely SatisfiedSomewhat Satisfied


Morocco(355)

Tunisia(130)

Mental wellbeing
















Jordan(239)

Lebanon(109)



Mental wellbeing














Bahrain(53)

Kuwait(116)



Mental wellbeing














Oman(93)

Qatar(160)



Mental wellbeing














KSA(719)

UAE(267)



Mental wellbeing













PROFESSIONAL LIFESection 2B

Professional Life Elements That Impact Happiness


Q. Given below are some elements that people claim are important to their PROFESSIONAL LIFE and have a direct impact on their happiness and wellbeing. On a scale of 1 – 5 where 1 is ‘Extremely Dissatisfied’ and 5 is ‘Extremely Satisfied’, please specify your level of satisfaction on each of these elements.

Base: Total Working/ Unemployed Professionals (3,317)

Top 2 satisfaction box



Support from colleagues/ co-

workers51 55 58 54 59 61 58 47 46 46 47 56 39

Working hours 50 56 59 45 53 57 47 51 50 48 37 53 45

Work-life balance 49 55 49 46 55 45 51 42 44 42 49 55 49

Recognition at work 46 45 49 39 51 43 40 46 43 44 46 49 54

Freedom to take decisions at work 46 47 48 42 49 47 43 49 39 45 42 48 51

Support received from direct/ line

manager42 43 46 49 51 41 40 40 40 41 41 42 38

Amount of pressure/ stress

faced at work39 40 45 41 47 45 38 32 41 35 31 40 41

Remuneration received 33 38 40 35 39 37 30 25 33 31 24 32 24

Availability of career

advancement opportunities

30 30 36 32 43 37 30 30 29 27 26 34 25

Professional Life Elements That Impact Happiness



Base: Total Working/ Unemployed Professionals (3,317)

Extremely Satisfied Total

GCC Levant North Africa


Working hours 19 23 21 20 24 24 16 18 17 16 15 20 14

Support from colleagues/ co-

workers18 22 17 18 19 22 9 15 15 17 16 20 9

Work-life balance 18 22 17 17 21 14 7 9 11 17 18 21 16

Recognition at work 17 19 13 14 15 18 12 15 15 15 21 24 19

Freedom to take decisions at work 17 20 16 14 17 14 10 19 13 17 15 17 17

Support received from direct/ line

manager17 19 16 14 16 18 11 14 15 17 17 17 12

Availability of career

advancement opportunities

12 16 13 9 15 14 10 10 11 10 13 12 9

Amount of pressure/ stress

faced at work12 16 16 10 14 12 6 4 11 11 8 10 8

Remuneration received 9 12 11 6 9 14 6 7 7 9 9 10 3

Professional Life Elements

Algeria(420)

Egypt(866)

Recognition at work

Working hours

Freedom to take decisions at work

Support from colleagues/co-workers

Support received from direct/ line manager

Work-life balance

Amount of pressure/ stress faced at work

Availability of career advancement opportunities

Remuneration received






Morocco(310)

Tunisia(119)



Recognition at work

Working hours




Work-life balance







Jordan(210)

Lebanon(91)



Recognition at work

Working hours


Support from colleagues/ co-workers


Work-life balance



Remuneration receivedExtremely DissatisfiedSomewhat Dissatisfied



Bahrain(49)

Kuwait(109)



Recognition at work

Working hours




Work-life balance







Oman(81)

Qatar(150)



Recognition at work

Working hours




Work-life balance







KSA(631)

UAE(258)



Recognition at work

Working hours




Work-life balance






Satisfaction with Current Job


Q. Taking into consideration all the different factors, on an overall level, how satisfied are you with your CURRENT JOB?

Base: Currently Working (2,173)

CURRENT COUNTRY OF RESIDENCESection 2C

Current Country of Residence


Q. Thinking about the country where you currently live, how satisfied are you with the following factors:

Base: Total(3,747)

Top 2 satisfaction box TotalGCC Levant North Africa


Ability to maintain healthy personal relationships 65 66 69 55 70 68 67 68 69 56 66 74 78

Availability of utilities 62 78 89 84 87 87 74 24 64 39 55 64 65

General safety and security 60 81 91 71 92 72 86 30 78 28 50 67 44Comfortable weather 60 53 54 27 54 49 56 73 71 59 65 76 68

Opportunities to socialise 49 47 64 44 58 58 59 62 54 41 56 47 51

Availability of entertainment avenues 48 57 88 59 69 75 61 48 53 36 44 27 38

Access to Educational Institutions 46 55 64 43 57 64 60 52 62 25 34 59 52

Clean environment 44 58 83 53 79 66 81 23 44 20 45 33 35

Access to healthcare facilities 44 63 72 57 73 62 62 35 53 20 24 42 42Stability of political environment 43 65 78 49 73 53 76 14 56 18 40 34 19

Availability of public transport facilities 42 43 82 59 55 51 48 28 37 30 36 48 36

General infrastructure 37 47 88 56 65 60 71 15 34 20 26 25 13

Attitude and behavior of people in general 35 42 70 25 64 57 67 33 29 18 34 30 24

Ability to lead a stable financial life 31 43 47 34 54 47 48 10 27 19 25 30 22

Low cost of living 24 39 26 24 29 36 37 10 14 14 27 20 16Availability of employment opportunities 20 25 43 30 42 25 26 11 16 15 14 14 12

*small base, read with caution




Base: Total(3,747)

Extremely Satisfied TotalGCC Levant North Africa


General safety and security 31 51 69 35 63 30 53 7 40 10 20 22 9

Ability to maintain healthy personal relationships 28 33 28 22 30 28 29 28 18 23 32 34 31

Availability of utilities 28 46 60 44 53 30 34 9 17 12 21 21 19Comfortable weather 27 23 18 6 17 19 20 28 26 27 39 38 32Stability of political environment 21 37 53 23 41 13 40 3 21 7 14 12 5

Availability of entertainment avenues 19 26 59 23 31 30 24 9 13 12 14 6 6

Clean environment 18 24 53 22 39 28 39 6 9 7 16 8 6Access to Educational Institutions 17 27 29 17 28 26 23 7 14 8 7 21 13

Opportunities to socialise 17 16 27 11 28 23 16 17 14 15 19 14 13

Access to healthcare facilities 17 29 36 23 33 19 19 10 14 7 8 10 10


General infrastructure 14 21 51 21 26 15 24 6 6 6 7 5 4

Attitude and behavior of people in general 10 12 24 6 23 21 20 7 8 5 8 5 5

Ability to lead a stable financial life 9 15 14 9 19 19 10 4 4 7 8 7 2

Low cost of living 8 16 8 4 9 13 4 5 3 5 8 6 5

Availability of employment opportunities 7 8 13 9 14 8 8 4 5 5 6 3 4


Current Country of ResidenceAlgeria(479)

Egypt(999)

Availability of utilities

Ability to maintain healthy personal relationships

General safety and security

Availability of entertainment avenues

Stability of political environment


Access to healthcare facilities

Availability of public transport facilitiesGeneral infrastructure



Ability to lead a stable financial life

Attitude and behavior of people in general

Low cost of living

Availability of employment opportunities

Comfortable weather

Clean environment

Access to educational institutions

Extremely DissatisfiedSomewhat DissatisfiedExtremely SatisfiedSomewhat Satisfied


Morocco(355)

Tunisia(130)







Access to healthcare facilities

Availability of public transport facilitiesGeneral infrastructure





Low cost of living


Comfortable weather

Clean environment




Jordan(239)

Lebanon(109)









Access to healthcare facilitiesAvailability of public transport facilitiesGeneral infrastructure



Low cost of living


Comfortable weather

Clean environmentAccess to educational institutions


Current Country of ResidenceBahrain(53)

Kuwait(116)


Q. Thinking about the country where you currently live, how satisfied are with the following factors:







Access to healthcare facilitiesAvailability of public transport facilities

General infrastructure



Low cost of livingAvailability of employment opportunities

Comfortable weather

Clean environment



Current Country of ResidenceOman

(93)Qatar(160)














Comfortable weather

Clean environment



Current Country of ResidenceKSA(719)

UAE(267)














Comfortable weather

Clean environment



OTHER ASPECTS OF LIFESection 2D

Top 5 Important Factors That Impact Happiness


Q. Which of the following do you consider the top 5 most important factors that impact your general happiness levels in your country of residence? (Please select up to 5)

Base: Total (3,747)



Employment opportunities 51 54 51 46 54 34 41 49 54 46 59 50 55

General safety and security 48 47 58 56 51 42 41 55 54 40 52 56 48

Leading a stable financial life 48 51 44 50 46 42 44 61 54 49 44 48 44

Ability to maintain healthy personal

relationships38 38 36 34 27 42 45 41 33 37 37 43 48

Low cost of living 37 37 33 30 28 30 34 32 41 39 39 38 36Attitude and

behavior of people in general

32 33 31 34 38 45 40 30 29 34 26 26 29

Clean environment 30 28 41 33 32 21 39 32 29 31 25 30 26Access to healthcare

facilities 26 26 25 26 35 28 27 27 20 28 26 22 22

Availability of utilities 24 23 26 29 21 36 20 24 21 25 18 25 25Stability of political

environment 23 24 21 21 18 23 31 23 26 21 21 25 21

Access to Educational Institutions 18 15 12 18 17 17 20 19 15 19 20 23 19


Availability of entertainment

avenues17 20 22 16 20 21 18 12 23 13 11 15 22

Comfortable weather 14 12 12 10 15 13 17 19 15 15 18 14 15General

infrastructure 12 13 11 10 15 17 11 5 13 11 14 11 16


Other 10 9 4 9 8 13 8 8 10 12 12 10 10

Current Level of Stress


Q. Thinking about your EVERYDAY LIFE, please indicate on a scale of 1-5, where 1 is “Extremely stressed” and 5 is “Not at all stressed”, which of the following options best apply to you?

Base: Total (3,747)

Contributors of Stress


Q. Which of the following reasons do you believe contribute towards the stress in your life?

Base: Total (3,747)

Contributors of Stress by Country


Q. Which of the following reasons do you believe contribute towards the stress in your life?



Increasing cost of living 70 63 66 69 61 66 61 74 74 77 60 72 73

Current economic situation of my

country of residence

48 38 24 34 23 47 33 60 49 65 31 62 68

Work related issues 46 46 51 57 49 53 45 56 42 42 49 44 45

Inability to maintain a good

work/life balance36 34 38 41 36 51 30 51 33 36 30 41 31

Demands of the family 33 38 33 34 31 30 34 35 30 35 29 28 25

Current political situation of my

country of residence

24 15 6 9 6 32 3 41 9 43 13 29 36

Need to keep up with technological

changes15 16 10 14 11 9 17 15 11 16 11 22 12

Inability to meet new people and

make new friends13 18 13 9 15 13 9 17 11 11 14 13 6

The physical environment and

surroundings11 11 8 18 14 9 3 9 9 14 9 10 11

Other 6 8 7 7 4 8 9 7 8 3 8 7 7Don’t know/ Not

sure 5 7 7 3 8 6 5 1 3 3 8 5 5

Base: Total (3,747)

General State of Health


Q. How would you describe your general state of health?

Base: Total (3,747)



Excellent, I don’t have any health

problems37 44 39 36 44 40 33 34 41 28 41 36 39

Good, overall my health is good

except for infrequent

seasonal illnesses

40 34 36 38 36 32 42 45 41 46 35 46 37

Average, I have few health

problems which are under control

17 18 21 20 14 21 20 19 14 19 14 13 16

Not very good, I have a number of health problems

which I am suffering from but are more or less

under control

5 4 4 5 6 8 2 2 3 5 6 4 6

Not at all good, I have serious

health problems that are not under

control and require

continuous/ long-term treatment

1 1 - 1 - - 2 - 1 2 3 1 2


Current Illness


Q. Do you currently suffer from any of the below listed health issues?

Base: Total (3,747)

Current Illness by Country


Q. Do you currently suffer from any of the below listed health issues?



No, I do not 60 57 58 47 70 43 58 62 64 57 62 65 68

Stress related diseases

(depression, anxiety etc.)

19 18 17 24 9 19 16 17 20 20 21 20 15

Obesity 10 15 12 16 4 21 22 7 10 9 5 8 2

Hypertension 6 4 9 7 8 6 8 3 5 7 5 3 4

Other Chronic illness 5 6 3 6 4 11 6 5 3 5 3 4 5

Diabetes 3 4 4 5 6 13 9 0 2 3 2 1 2

Heart disease 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2

Don’t know / not sure 7 7 7 7 9 11 2 7 5 9 8 4 8

Base: Total (3,747)

Overall Satisfaction


Q. Lastly, how satisfied are you with your life in general?

Base: Total (3,747)

DEMOGRAPHICSSection 3

Respondent profile 1/5

Base: Total (3,747)



Base: Total (3,747)


Base: Those who disclosed their age (3,637)


Base: Total (3,747)


THANK YOU!

the bayt.com happiness in the middle east survey...the bayt.com happiness in the middle east survey...

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