Global Happiness Report: Nigeria far from happiness

As the world marks the International Day of Happiness, Nigeria has been ranked 105th out of 147 countries.

This is according to the latest Global Happiness Report.

Nigeria has been ranked in the lower half of countries in the latest World Happiness Report 2025.

The report assesses benevolence based on charitable donations, volunteering, and acts of kindness toward strangers.

The report, published by the Gallup World Poll (2022–2024) and the World Risk Poll (2019), evaluates six key indicators of benevolence across different nations.

Nigeria performed poorly in most categories, particularly in charitable donations and the return of lost wallets.

However she ranked relatively higher in helping strangers.

The study suggests that social and religious norms, along with weak institutional social safety nets, influence patterns of generosity in different societies.

“The relative frequency of other benevolent acts depends on local social and religious norms.

It also depends on the  role of private benevolence as a substitute or supplement for institutional social safety nets,” the report stated.

Nigeria follows a trend observed in other African countries such as Jamaica, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

These are reportedly where people are more likely to help strangers but rank much lower in donation-based benevolence.

The country also scored low in societal trust, particularly in the return of lost wallets.

“All five countries are near the bottom of the ranking for expected wallet return by police,” the report noted.

The country also sits in tenth position among African nations.

The report, released on Thursday by the Global Happiness Council, evaluates happiness levels based on individuals’ assessments of their lives.

Finland retained its spot as the world’s happiest country for the eighth consecutive year.

The United States and the United Kingdom dropped further down the rankings, placing 23rd and 24th, respectively.

This is the lowest positions ever recorded for both nations.

In Africa, Libya emerged as the highest-ranked country, securing 79th place globally.

The ranking is based on a three-year average of survey responses measuring factors.

These factors include social support, income levels, freedom, generosity, and corruption perception.

Top 10 Happiest Countries in the world

Finland

Denmark

Iceland

Sweden

Netherlands

Costa Rica

Norway

Israel

Luxembourg

Mexico

105-Nigeria

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