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UAE best country to live in Mena and 15th globally, says UN
The Emirates attracts the third-highest number of AI-skilled migrants, says UN
- PUBLISHED: Thu 8 May 2025, 10:52 AM
The UAE has been ranked the best country to live in Mena and the Arab world and 15th globally.
According to the UN Human Development Index 2025, the UAE ranking increased by eight positions in the global ranking from the previous year, placing it above Canada, New Zealand, the US, Austria, Japan, France, Spain, and Italy, among others.
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The index takes into account average achievement in key dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable, and having a decent standard of living. It has been divided into four categories: very high human development, high human development, medium human development, and low human development.
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Importantly, the UAE has been categorised into the index's ‘very high human development’ section. In total, 74 countries are listed in the ‘very high human development’ category, including four other Gulf countries. They are Saudi Arabia (37th), Qatar (43rd), Oman (50th) and Kuwait (52nd).
The UAE's score on the Human Development Index has increased from 0.713 in 1990 to 0.857 in 2015 and 0.940 in 2023. The Emirates’ ranking has increased by 27 positions in 8 years from 2015 to 2023.
Globally, European countries dominate the list, led by Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Belgium.
While bottom-ranked countries in terms of human development are African countries including South Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Yemen.
AI professional migrants
Quoting LinkedIn data, the UN study showed that the UAE attracted the third highest number of artificial intelligence (AI) skilled migrants after Luxembourg and Switzerland.
In terms of AI skill penetration, the UAE has been placed highest in the Mena and Arab world but slightly below the global average by the UN Human Development Index 2025.
“Most large-scale AI models today are developed by organisations based in the US, followed by China and the UK. Only a small fraction originates from other countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and very few are created through international collaborations. Investment is also concentrated in the United States and China,” the UN said in its annual report.
The UAE has been aggressively focusing on the AI industry. Recently, the UAE made it mandatory for public schools to teach AI to students aged four and above.
The US saw the highest AI investment flows in 2024, reaching $70.2 billion, followed by China, $6.5 billion, $0.7 billion in the Middle East and $19.9 billion in the rest of the world.
