Qatar residents were among the most satisfied with their quality of life when polled about it in a recent survey of some two dozen countries.

Confidence that the country is moving in the right direction helped put Qatar in fifth place overall in the Quality of Life study by US-based polling agency Zogby Research Services (ZRS).

The survey questioned nearly 24,000 people in 22 countries on their overall perceptions about their quality of life.

These included whether they felt better or worse off now than five years ago; whether they think their lives will be improved in five years; and if their children will have better lives than they themselves have currently.

Residents were also asked about their views on different aspects of their personal safety and security, including political and financial stability.

Top spots

Qatar had a quality of life quotient of 46.3. It came third in the Gulf, behind the UAE (53) and Oman (50).

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia took ninth place out of 22 countries. Bahrain came in 12th, and at 20th, Kuwait was near the bottom of the index.

Residents in Malaysia and Singapore were most happy overall, with scores of 59 and 56 respectively.

Both Indonesia and Egypt were at the bottom of index, with residents expressing deep concern for the direction the countries were going in.

Countries’ respondents were scored against each individual question and ranked by each of four sections.

A nationally representative sample of 532 people in Qatar were quizzed on their views using face-to-face interviews between February and March this year, ZRS said.

Feeling safe

In Qatar, residents’ high perceptions of safety helped boost its score, putting it second out of 22 countries in this category.

This is in line with how Qatar performs in other studies when residents are asked to rate how safe and secure they feel.

In this section, they were asked if they felt confident or not confident when it came to:

• Having enough money for their family and the future;
• The stability in their country;
• The protection of their personal rights;
• The threat to their country posed by other hostile countries or groups; and
• If they feel they or their family might be the victim of a violent crime.

Overall, 41 percent of Qatar respondents said they were unconcerned, with nationals feeling the most safe.

“Qataris are most secure with respect to their personal rights,” the survey said.

While Qatar did well compared to other countries, the results still show that a significant percentage of people polled said they were worried about these issues.

Nearly two-thirds (60 percent) said they were worried about being the victim of a crime and about the threat to their country posed by other hostile countries or groups.

Past surveys

Qatar’s performance in surveys that measure “quality of life” varies considerably depending on the people interviewed, the type of questions asked and how the data is interpreted.

However, generally, Qatar doesn’t fare well in studies asking people’s views on this subject.

For example, the annual HSBC Expat Explorer survey last month found the country had slipped in the rankings for a second year.

Rising living costs and instability over jobs were cited by respondents as their biggest concerns.

A separate study conducted by Qatar University’s Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) showed a variance in findings.

The findings, released in April, indicated that Arab expats and Qatari nationals living here were more satisfied with the country’s public services than Western expats.

How is your quality of life in Qatar? Thoughts?