Nigeria has dropped to the 106th position in the 2026 World Happiness Report, indicating a steady decline in the country’s ranking over the past three years.
The report showed that Nigeria ranked 105th in 2025 and 102nd in 2024.
The ranking, covering 147 countries, was released on Thursday as the world marked the International Day of Happiness celebrated annually on March 20.
The International Day of Happiness was established by the United Nations General Assembly on June 28, 2012, to raise awareness about the importance of happiness and well-being in people’s lives.
In Africa, Mauritius emerged as the happiest country on the continent, ranking 73rd globally, followed by Libya, Algeria and Mozambique among the top 10 happiest countries in Africa.
Other African countries in the top 10 include Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, South Africa, Niger and Tunisia, which ranked 105th globally.
Globally, Finland retained its position as the world’s happiest country for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Iceland, Denmark and Costa Rica, with Nordic countries dominating the top rankings.
The annual report is published by the University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The report is based on data from the Gallup World Poll and measures how people evaluate their lives on a scale from zero to 10.
Rankings are based on three-year averages and consider factors such as GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
