Ghana drops 30 places in 2021 World Happiness ranking

Ghana has dropped 30 places in the World Happiness Report 2021, ranking 95th  globally from 65th in the 2020 Report.

Compiled by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the World Happiness Report uses data from surveys of more than 350,000 people in 95 countries, conducted by the polling company Gallup.

It asks respondents to indicate, on a scale of one to ten, how much social support they can rely on if something goes wrong, whether they feel they have the freedom to make their own life choices and how generous they are, among other questions.

In the latest report, which ranks 149 nations globally, Ghana trails Mauritius.

Mauritius is the happiest place in Africa at the 50th globally.

Africa's happiest countries are listed below in descending order with their global scores

50. Mauritius
51. Libya
52. Congo (Brazzaville)
53. Ivory Coast
54. Cameroon
55. Senegal
56. Ghana
57. Niger
58. Benin
59. Gambia

Neighbouring Nigeria has also witnessed a significant drop on the ranking list following a fall by 57 places to rank 116th. They ranked 59th in the 2020 Report.

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Finland holds the top spot as the happiest place in the world for the fourth year running in the annual report.

The 2021 report focuses on the effects of COVID-19 and how people all over the world have fared.

“Our aim was two-fold, first to focus on the effects of COVID-19 on the structure and quality of people’s lives, and second to describe and evaluate how governments all over the world have dealt with the pandemic. In particular, we try to explain why some countries have done so much better than others,” compilers explain.

According to the report, the world's top 10 happiest countries in 2021

1. Finland
2. Iceland
3. Denmark
4. Switzerland
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Germany
8. Norway
9. New Zealand
10. Austria