Khaberni - The Quality of Life Program Center in Saudi Arabia announced the launch of the «Global Quality of Life Index» in partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), as part of the Quality of Life Program initiatives to enhance human-centric development. The index is a global initiative designed to provide cities with a multi-dimensional, data-driven framework to measure and enhance quality of life, thereby placing human well-being at the core of sustainable urban development and fitting to diverse local contexts.
Measuring indicators
The index stems from the belief that development starts by deeply understanding how individuals live, work, and interact with their surroundings. It integrates collaborative research and shared priority setting within a comprehensive framework that allows cities to move beyond traditional indicators such as Gross Domestic Product, incorporating real-life experiences into measurement and planning processes. The index measures both global requirements and the specific local needs unique to each context, allowing cities to enhance the well-being of their communities by transforming local insights into more inclusive and effective policies.
The index currently includes 22 cities across six continents, with plans to expand to include over 80 additional cities. It is based on 28 global indicators that provide in-depth insights across nine key areas of quality of life, including: essential services and mobility, culture and entertainment, economy, education, environment, governance, health and wellness, housing, and social connectivity, alongside a comprehensive indicator to measure satisfaction levels with life.
Participation of 40 countries
The index was developed through a participatory global process involving more than 150 experts and stakeholders from over 40 countries, in line with international statistical standards and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
According to Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Saudi Minister of Tourism and Chairman of the Quality of Life Program, the launch of the Global Quality of Life Index represents an important step to empower cities around the world to benefit from data-driven insights that transform the concept of well-being into practical, actionable priorities, and direct efforts accurately towards what truly matters to humans. He added that the Kingdom, as a global platform that gathers partners and relevant parties, looks forward to sharing its experiences and benefiting from the expertise of its counterparts, contributing to the development of policies that empower communities and enhance quality of life globally.
Reshaping the concept of Development
Khaled Al-Baker, CEO of the Quality of Life Program Center, said that the Saudi Vision 2030 was launched to reshape the concept of development in line with people's living experiences, affirming that transferring lessons learned from implementing the vision to the global stage reflects the Kingdom's commitment to supporting sustainable urban development. He noted that the ongoing partnership with UN-Habitat contributes to providing practical insights, data-based frameworks, and national experiences that shape a new international dialogue about human well-being and quality of life.
The index's launch was carried out on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026, during a session chaired by Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb in the «Saudi House» pavilion entitled: «Quality of Life 2030 and Beyond: Innovations Shaping the Future of Cities», with participation from Her Royal Highness Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States. The session focused on practical lessons from the transformation journey witnessed by the Kingdom, with Sultan Al-Malhem, Director of Sector Strategy Development at the Quality of Life Program, delivering a keynote speech wherein he interacted with investors, experts, and global leaders, discussing his vision regarding the role of Saudi investments in enhancing quality of life and stimulating sustainable growth and shared prosperity.
This collaborative launch reaffirms a joint commitment from the Kingdom and the UN-Habitat to propel inclusive, resilient, and human-centric urban development through international cooperation, providing a framework that supports collective learning, and advocates for a responsive and sustainable approach to growth, based on a global network that enhances data-centric and human-focused urban development.
