By Desire Emmanuel
Twenty three years ago, in 2003, Nigerians were ranked as the happiest people on earth but in the 2026 ranking of happy people worldwide, Nigeria now stands at 106, according to the World Happiness Report.
The report unveiled on Friday, March 20, showed the happiness ranking of 147 nations as the world observes the International Day of Happiness.
The World Happiness Report is released annually as part of the celebration of the day.
The International Day of Happiness, celebrated on March 20,was established by the United Nations General Assembly on June 28, 2012 to make people around the world realise the importance of happiness within their lives.
In the latest ranking, Mauritius ranks as the 73th happiest country in the world, and stands as the country with the happiest people in Africa, with Libya, Algeria and Mozambique following respectively among the 10 happiest countries in the continent.
Other countries that made the top10 in Africa include Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, South Africa, Niger and Tunisia, which stands at 105 in the global ranking.
Globally, Finland retained its position as the world’s happiest country for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Iceland, Denmark and Costa Rica.
The top 10 in the world is dominated by Nordic nations, with Costa Rica, a country outside Europe, breaking into the top five for the first time.
The annual report is published by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The report, based on data from the Gallup World Poll, measures how people evaluate their lives on a scale from zero to 10.
Rankings reflect three-year averages and consider factors such as GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
