Nigeria has secured the sixth position in the list of the world’s happiest countries, according to the recently released ‘Mental State of the World’ report by the Global Mind Project, News About Nigeria reports.
This news comes despite the prevailing economic hardships faced by the nation and its citizens.
The report, which assesses mental health across 71 countries, sheds light on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global mental well-being.
The Global Mind Project, initiated by the nonprofit neuroscience research organisation Sapien Labs in 2019, utilises a Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) to categorise participants into various mental health states, ranging from ‘thriving’ to ‘distressed’.
The Dominican Republic claimed the top spot in the 2023 rankings with the highest average MHQ of 91, followed closely by Sri Lanka (89) and Tanzania (88).
Notably, Nigeria secured the sixth position, indicating a higher level of perceived happiness among its populace.
On the other end of the spectrum, Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom found themselves at the bottom of the rankings, with average MHQ scores of 48 and 49, respectively.
This reveals a 14.3% disparity between the countries at the top and bottom of the MHQ scale.
The overall distribution of happiness indicates a geographical trend, with English-speaking South Asian, Russian-speaking Central Asian, and Core Anglosphere nations ranking lower.
In contrast, Spanish-speaking Latin American countries dominated the top half of the rankings.
The list of the happiest countries includes the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Panama, Malaysia, Nigeria, Venezuela, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Uruguay.
The unhappiest nations, in order, are Uzbekistan, the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Tajikistan, Australia, Egypt, Ireland, Iraq, and Yemen.
