Nigeria has dropped to 106th place in the 2026 World Happiness Report, falling from 105 in 2025 and 102 in 2024, showing a gradual decline in national happiness.
The report, released on Thursday, ranked 147 countries as the world marked the International Day of Happiness.
The World Happiness Report is published every year to coincide with the day’s celebration.
The International Day of Happiness, observed on March 20, was set up by the UN General Assembly on June 28, 2012, to remind people worldwide about the importance of happiness in their lives.
In Africa, Mauritius topped the list as the happiest country, placing 73rd globally, followed by Libya, Algeria, and Mozambique among the continent’s 10 happiest nations.
Other African countries in the top 10 include Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, South Africa, Niger, and Tunisia, which ranks 105th in the world.
On the global stage, Finland kept its spot as the world’s happiest country for the ninth year running, with Iceland, Denmark, and Costa Rica following.
Nordic countries dominate the world’s top 10, with Costa Rica, a non-European nation, entering the top five for the first time.
The report is produced by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, in collaboration with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Using data from the Gallup World Poll, the report asks people to rate their lives on a scale of zero to 10. The rankings are based on three-year averages and consider GDP per person, social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and how people view corruption.
