We have all seen people on social media saying they are very unhappy to be living in Zimbabwe but it hits different when you hear it from other people or reputable international organisations.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network have released their World Happiness Report in which Zimbabwe has been named the unhappiest country in Africa with financial struggles being a key determining factor whilst Mauritius is the happiest country because of its relatively high-income levels.
The UN has used statistical analysis to determine the world’s happiest countries and 146 countries were ranked. Africa ranked as the unhappiest region in the world with a score of 4.5. That puts Zimbabwe at the bottom of the bottom of the list. The assessment makes sense to some extent as Zimbabwe had approximately 6.1 million people were living below the international poverty line in 2021. The alarming rise of crime in Zimbabwe is another indicator of the poverty issues currently being faced in Zimbabwe due to the degrading economy.
“The World Happiness Report is changing the conversation about progress and wellbeing. It provides important snapshots of how people around the world feel about the overall quality of their lives,” Christopher Barrington-Leigh, professor at McGill University in Quebec and a researcher involved in the report, said in a statement.
The top 10 happiest countries in Africa are:
Mauritius – 6.071
Libya – 5.330
Ivory Coast – 5.235
South Africa – 5.194
Gambia – 5.164
Algeria – 5.122
Liberia – 5.122
Congo – 5.075
Morocco – 5.060
Mozambique – 5.048
The bottom 10 unhappiest countries in Africa are:
Zimbabwe – 2.995
Rwanda – 3.268
Botswana – 3.471
Lesotho – 3.512
Sierra Leone – 3.574
Tanzania – 3.502
Malawi – 3.750
Zambia – 3.760
Togo – 4.112
Mauritania – 4.152