Happiest Countries in Africa and the World

Today is the International Day of Happiness, and to celebrate it, we want to look at the happiest countries in the world, and how they are ranked, according to the World Happiness Report – an annual publication of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

First published in 2012, the World Happiness Report outlines the state of world happiness, causes of happiness and misery, and policy implications highlighted by case studies. Since then, it has been issued on an annual basis with the exception of 2014. The report primarily uses data from the Gallup World Poll where experts in fields including economics, psychology, survey analysis, and national statistics, describe how measurements of well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations, and other topics. Each report is organized by chapters that delve deeper into issues relating to happiness, including mental illness, the objective benefits of happiness, the importance of ethics, policy implications, and links with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s approach to measuring subjective well-being and other international and national efforts.

Without further ado, see the 10 happiest countries in the world, and top 25 happiest countries in Africa ranked by their aggregate score on six of the key variables that have been found to support well-being: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity. (In case you did not notice, we made it top 25, so we can accommodate our Ghanaian neighbors, who are surprisingly very low on the ranking).

Top 10

Finland
Finns set up dinner tables across the world to mark the 100th anniversary of Finland. Photo Credit – Yhteismaa
Norway
Denmark
Iceland
Switzerland
Netherlands
Canada
Canada Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau celebrate Canada day with a Canadian
New Zealand
Sweden
Australia