Jordan 2nd unhappiest country in region — index

AMMAN — Jordan ranks the second unhappiest country regionally and 134th happiest nation globally on the World Happiness Report 2022.

The World Happiness Report is a publication from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, powered by data from the Gallup World Poll.

In the World Happiness Report 2022, in its 10th edition, 146 countries are ranked according to how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. The Gallup World Poll’s average results over a three-year period are used to determine the rankings.

Globally, Finland remained the happiest country for the fifth time in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Bahrain ranked the happiest country regionally and 21st globally, followed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya, respectively.

At the other end of the spectrum, Afghanistan remained in last position as the unhappiest country globally, followed by Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Botswana, respectively.

“The average life evaluation in Jordan stood at 4.15 out of 10,” the report added. 

The index stated that the pandemic caused agony and suffering, but it also resulted in an upsurge of social assistance and charity.

“This is a bad indicator for Jordan as it reflects poor economic policies that have been adopted by the Jordanian governments for many years,” economist Wajdi Makhamreh told The Jordan Times.

Makhamreh added that it also indicates that the GDP per capita is decreasing and the poverty rate is increasing and the level of Jordan’s healthcare system is below the desired level. 

“The report reflects the real situation in Jordan,” sociologist Hussein Al Khozahe told The Jordan Times.

He added that “unfortunately” Jordan’s ranking in the World Happiness report has been declining since 2017. In 2017, Jordan ranked 74th globally, in 2018 the Kingdom ranked 90th, in  2019 101th, 2020 119th and in 2021, Jordan ranked 127th, he said.

“The unemployment rate among female graduates in Jordan has reached 82 per cent, while it reached 42 per cent among males,” said Khozahe.

 “The numbers are shocking,” he noted. 

He added that almost a quarter of the Jordanian population is under poverty line. Another important factor contributing to the Kingdom’s ranking, according to the sociologist, is that over 80 per cent of the workforce and retired personnels’ monthly income does not exceed JD500.

“Almost 45 per cent of Jordanians desire to immigrate,” he noted.