Ghana misses out on 2024 Top 10 happiest countries in Africa

Ghana failed to secure a spot in the Top 10 happiest countries on the African continent, according to the latest World Happiness Report.

The report showed that Nordic nations are once again at the top of the happiness rankings.

Finland remained the happiest country for the seventh year in a row, with Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden following closely behind.

However, Libya has the highest happiness score in Africa, with 5.866.

Aside from the happiness rankings, the report took into account a country’s GDP, life expectancy, and perceptions of freedom and corruption to provide insights into each nation’s particular needs.

According to John Helliwell, emeritus professor of economics at the Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, and a founding editor of the World Happiness Report, the poll asked each participant to rate their whole life, taking into account what they value.

“And you find out Finland’s pretty rich in all of those things like wallets being returned if they’re dropped in the street, people helping each other day in and day out, very high quality and universally distributed health and education opportunities—so everyone more or less comes out of the starting gate the same,” said John Helliwell.

This year’s survey includes age-specific rankings, which reveal troubling patterns in life satisfaction among young people in various regions.

According to the survey, the global happiness disparity has increased by more than 20% over the last twelve years across all geographies and age demographics, with considerable differences identified by age and geographical location.

In many but not all, regions, the young are happier than the elderly. In Sub-Saharan Africa, happiness inequality has risen significantly, notably among the elderly.

From 2021 to 2023, negative emotions were more widespread in every region for females than men, with the gender disparity widening practically everywhere as people got older.

Happiness is an essential component of human well-being, and it has a significant impact on the social and economic development of countries around the world.

The World Happiness Report, which analyses worldwide happiness in over 150 nations, has named Finland the happiest country for the seventh year in a row.