CS Global Partners recently released its “2024 World Citizenship Report” (WCR) in which it attempts to measure the value of citizenship through a poll conducted with citizens around the globe. The report is a first of its kind and employs various approaches to measure the value of citizenship through its “World Citizenship Index” (WCI). According to the report, the WCI utilizes five modes of analysis called “Motivators” to capture the value of citizenship, with each motivator having its own weight in the index. The five motivators are “Safety and Security” (weight: 25%), “Economic Opportunity” (weight: 20%), “Quality of Life” (weight: 25%), “Global Mobility” (weight: 15%), and “Financial Freedom” (weight: 15%). The WCI surveys participants across six regions of the world with the largest concentration of surveyors coming from North America (34.4%), followed by Europe (24.7%), Asia (18.3%), Oceania (12.6%), Latin America (7.3%) and Africa (2.8%). The WCI covers 188 jurisdictions, with each jurisdiction having its own headline score which varies between 0 (lowest value) and 100 (highest value).

Ireland came in first in the world in the 2024 WCI with a headline score of 86.6, followed by Switzerland (score: 86.0), Denmark (score: 84.6), Australia (score: 83.0) and Iceland (score: 82.7). In the Arab region, the United Arab Emirates came in first in the region and 19^th in the world in the 2024 index with a score of 76.3, followed by Qatar (global rank: 45; score: 68.2) and Kuwait (global rank: 56; score: 63.5), only to name a few.

Locally, Lebanon ranked in the 15^th place among its Arab peers and in the 139^th place in the world in the 2024 World Citizenship Index with a score of 39.1. More specifically, Lebanon ranked 13^th among Arab countries and 138^th in the world in the “Safety and Security” motivator (score: 40.4), 16^th among Arab countries and 137^th in the world in the “Economic Opportunity” motivator (score: 30.1), 13^th among Arab countries and 105^th in the world in the “Quality of Life” motivator (score: 61.0), 13^th among Arab countries and 125^th in the world in the “Global Mobility” motivator (score: 15.2) and 14^th among Arab countries and 132^nd in the world in the “Financial Freedom” motivator (score: 36.2).