Nigeria ranks 106 in the 2026 World Happiness Report, down from 105 in 2025 and 102 in 2024.
The report, released on Thursday, ranked 147 countries as the world marked the International Day of Happiness.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Happiness Report is published every year to coincide with the celebration.
The day, observed on March 20, was established by the UN General Assembly on June 28, 2012, to highlight the importance of happiness in people’s lives.
Mauritius is the 73rd happiest country in the world and the highest-ranked in Africa. Libya, Algeria, and Mozambique follow, with Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, South Africa, Niger, and Tunisia also among the top 10 on the continent. Tunisia ranks 105th globally.
Globally, Finland remains the world’s happiest country for the ninth year in a row, followed by Iceland, Denmark, and Costa Rica. The top 10 is mostly made up of Nordic nations, with Costa Rica the only country outside Europe in the top five.
The report is published by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Based on data from the Gallup World Poll, the report measures how people rate their lives on a scale from zero to 10. Rankings use three-year averages and consider factors like GDP per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.