Qatar residents are apparently more satisfied with their personal lives than those living in several other countries across the MENA region, a new report has found.

That’s in large part due to the relatively low crime rate here and the country’s political stability, more than two thirds of respondents said in the “The Bayt.com Happiness Survey.” Strong relationships with family also played a role, though satisfaction with socializing opportunities was low.

However, at least a fifth of Qatar residents surveyed expressed dissatisfaction with their current standard of living and financial independence. And a whopping 59 percent were unhappy with the high cost of living here.

Bayt.com, which worked with independent research group YouGov on the poll, derived its conclusions from recent online interviews of some 11,000 people in 14 Arab countries.

Difficult work lives

Only 200-some people were surveyed in Qatar, but the responses appear to mirror sentiments across the Gulf, in that people are more satisfied with their personal lives than their professional ones.

While less than 10 percent were unhappy with their mental wellbeing and family relationships, more than a third of respondents were dissatisfied with the number of hours they worked, the recognition they received for their work and their work/life balance.

Some 40 percent also did not feel free to make decisions at work and said their managers do not support them. Finally, almost half rued the availability of career advancement opportunities and the amount of stress they faced in the workplace.

In a statement, Suhail Masri, vice president of sales at Bayt.com, said:

“For life satisfaction, it is pretty clear that employment is an extremely important factor. Stress is a prevalent issue across the region, which is reflective of the uncertain economic situation experienced in many Mena countries.

However, despite the fact that many professionals seem to be afflicted with stress-related ailments, there seems to be a general sense of happiness with the overall state of life.

Indeed, it isn’t all bad news professionally in Qatar. Though 43 percent of respondents said they were unhappy with their current jobs, taking into account all working life factors, 46 percent said they were satisfied or very satisfied, while 11 percent remained neutral.

Here’s the full report:

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Omar Chatriwala