Shafaq News / Iraq ranked sixth as the happiest country in the Middle East during 2021, according to the Global Finance magazine.

As by the report, people living in Middle Eastern countries tend to be either very happy or very unhappy.

The 2021 World Happiness Report paints a picture of extremes in the Middle East region: on one hand, some very rich and quite content nations, and on the other, some nations so unhappy that they are either buried at the bottom of the ranking (Yemen) or entirely excluded (Syria, for which no evaluation is provided), according to the report.

"War is probably the single worst ingredient for human happiness and the report has pointed out countless times over the years that wealth in and of itself doesn’t do the trick either. Along with income, social support in times of need, healthy life expectancy, absence of corruption in government, freedom to make life choices and generosity towards others are the other key variables that the researchers of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations use in their report to assess life satisfaction", it pointed out.

However, a balance of all these factors provides a better shot at overall happiness than only a few good ones to the detriment of the others and it is that balance that many Middle Eastern nations lack, as by the report.