by Patrick Appel
Gallup provides the above graph, which shows wellbeing is declining despite increases in Egyptian and Tunisian GDP. Gallup concludes that "global wellbeing metrics make clear that leaders cannot assume that the lives of those in their countries would improve in tandem with rising GDP":
In Egypt, all income groups have seen wellbeing decline significantly since 2005, with only the richest 20% of the population trending positively since 2009. In Tunisia, wellbeing for all groups has declined since 2008 at similar rates. As a result of these declines, wellbeing in these countries now ranks among the worst in the Middle East and North Africa region, on par with Libya, Palestinian Territories, Iraq, Yemen, and Morocco.
Peyton Craighill collects more data:
The most recent Egyptian data from March 2010 finds just 36 percent saying they are satisfied with the freedom available in their country and 61 percent are dissatisfied. That ranks Egypt fourth highest in dissatisfaction among the 151 countries polled by Gallup (only Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cuba and Madagascar showed higher dissatisfaction).