Ten years ago this week, the UAE decided that if you can’t buy happiness, you can at least legislate it. On Feb. 9, 2016, Dubai’s Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced a cabinet shake-up at the World Government Summit, introducing a minister of state for happiness.
The move was part of a broader strategy to create a “young and flexible” government. While critics initially dismissed the move as a PR play, it turns out the UAE might have been on to something. In the 2025 World Happiness Report, compiled by polling company Gallup, the country climbed to 21st globally, and first regionally. The government declared 2025 the “Year of Community,” and the International Day of Happiness — not a public holiday — is now marked by the country on March 20 each year.
