Despite Election Violence, Fuel and Cash Scarcity, Nigeria Enters List of 100 Happiest Countries in the World
- Nigeria is now sitting in the 95th position in the list of happiest countries in the world for 2023
- For the 6th time in a row, Finland occupies the top position, with Denmark and Iceland following behind
- The position of the unhappiest country in the world goes to Afghanistan
Nigeria has been ranked the 95th happiest country in the world in 2023, moving up 23 places from the 118th position it was ranked in 2022.
This is according to the latest edition of the World Happiness Report, released on Monday, March 20, 2023, by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Interestingly, in 2021, Nigeria was placed in the 59th position in the world's ranking of happiest countries and second in Africa behind Mauritius.
Source: UGC
The report, which is based on people’s assessment of their happiness, as well as economic and social data, is part of the United Nations’ International Day of Happiness which took place on March 20.
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It considers six key factors: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption. The ranking also assigns a happiness score on a scale of zero to 10, based on an average over a three-year period.
Countries' movement on the ranking
The report ranked Finland the happiest country, a spot it has held for the sixth year in a row with a score way ahead of other countries.
Denmark and Iceland held the 2nd and 3rd spots, respectively. Israel, moving five places up from 2021's 9th position, is now in the 4th position.
Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland respectively settled on the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th positions on the new rankings. Luxembourg and New Zealand followed suit in 9th and 10th positions to close out the top 10 happiest countries in the world.
World’s happiest countries for 2023
| No | Country | Average Life Evaluation |
| 1 | Finland | 7.80 |
| 2 | Denmark | 7.56 |
| 3 | Iceland | 7.53 |
| 4 | Israel | 7.47 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 7.40 |
| 6 | Sweden | 7.39 |
| 7 | Norway | 7.31 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 7.24 |
| 9 | Luxemborg | 7.22 |
| 10 | New Zealand | 7.12 |
| 11 | Austria | 7.09 |
| 12 | Australia | 7.09 |
| 13 | Canada | 6.96 |
| 14 | Ireland | 6.91 |
| 15 | United States | 6.89 |
| 16 | Germany | 6.89 |
| 17 | Belgium | 6.85 |
| 18 | Czech Republic | 6.84 |
| 19 | United Kingdom | 6.79 |
| 20 | Lithuania | 6.76 |
At the bottom of the list is war-torn Afghanistan. In other words, in a review of 137 countries, it is the world's unhappiest country. Next to Afghanistan is Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Congo, making up the top five unhappiest countries in the world.
Placed between the 6th to the 10th position of the world's unhappiest countries are Botswana, Malawi, Comoros, Tanzania and Zambia, respectively.
Report Shows Money Can Buy Happiness
A new study published in the journal PNAS has proven that money can indeed buy happiness, according to research which tested 200 people for six months.
During the research, the 200 poor and rich participants received a one-time free sum of $10,000 (N4.45m) with the instruction to spend all in the first three months.
Legit.ng reported that participants who received the money were asked to keep a monthly diary of how pleased they felt, as was a control group of 100 persons who did not receive any money.
The researchers examined happiness by asking respondents to rate their satisfaction with their life on a scale of 1 to 7 and how frequently they experienced good feelings like happiness and negative emotions like despair on a scale of 1 to 5.
After three months of spending, the group (poor) that received $10,000 reported higher levels of happiness than those who did not. After three months, the recipients still reported higher happiness levels than when the test began.
However, the rich group did not report noticeable improvements in their happiness.
Source: Legit.ng
