Gambia Ranked 5th Happiest Nation Continentally, 93rd Globally

By Mustapha Ceesay

The World Happiness Report 2022 ranked The Gambia the 5^th happiest nation in Africa and the 93^rd in the World.

Mauritius, Libya, Ivory Coast, South African, The Gambia, Algeria, Liberia , Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and Morocco are the 9 African countries which made it in the first 100 of the 146 countries featured in the report.

Mauritius is ranked 52^nd, Libya 86^th, Ivory Coast 88^th, South African  91^st, The Gambia 93^rd, Algeria 96^th, Liberia 97^th, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) 99^th and Morocco 100^th.

The Gambia’s neighbour, Senegal finished 103^rdahead of Ghana at 111^th, Uganda at 117^th, Nigeria at 118^th, Mali at 123^rd, Egypt at 129^th, Mauritania at 132^nd, Sierra Leone at 140^th and Rwanda at 143^rd .

Finland topped the list, joined by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Israel, and New Zealand in the top 10. While Germany, Canada, United States, United Kingdom (6.943), Czechia, Belgium, and France occupied 11^th to 20^th  positions.

The World Happiness Report measures GDP per capita, social support during difficult times, life expectancy, and minimal corruption in a country.

This year marked the 10^th anniversary of the report, since the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/281 in 2012 proclaiming 20^th March International Day of Happiness to be celebrated annually. Thus, the World Happiness Report comes around 20^th March annually, as part of activities marking the commemoration of the occasion.