South Sudan has been ranked the least happiest nation in Africa and the world. Mauritius ranked the happiest on the continent, and 57th overall in the world, while for the second year in a row, the world’s happiest country is Finland. Uganda comes in at number 136 out of 156 and 31st on the continent.
Finland topped the list of the countries, which were ranked in the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s 2019 World Happiness Report. The report ranks countries on several well-being variables including income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy and more.
Two other Nordic countries came in second and third place, Denmark and Norway, respectively.
The report is compiled by asking citizens in the several countries how happy they perceive themselves to be, as well as measures such as life expectancy, income and social support.
African nations have generally not fared well in the happiness ranking over the years, with Rwanda (4), Tanzania (3) and Central African Republic (2) rounding off the top four least happy countries in Africa.
As well as performing well on all the indicators, the most content countries all tended to have very stable societies, with happiness levels changing comparatively little since 2005.
Other conflict-ridden countries, such as Yemen, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic, also featured at the bottom of the table.
The report warned that world happiness has declined in recent years, as negative feelings rise, “comprising worry, sadness and anger, especially marked in Asia and Africa, and more recently elsewhere’‘.
Africa’s happiest
1. Mauritius (57 in the world)
2. Libya (72)
3. Nigeria (85)
4. Algeria (88)
5. Morocco (89)
6. Cameroon (96)
7. Ghana (98)
8. Ivory Coast (99)
9. Benin (102)
10. Congo Brazaville (103)
Africa’s least happy
10. Madagascar (143)
9. Lesotho (144)
8. Burundi (145)
7. Zimbabwe (146)
6. Botswana (148)
5.Malawi (150)
4. Rwanda (152)
3. Tanzania (153)
2. Central African Republic (155)
1. South Sudan (156)
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