According to the World Happiness Report 2025, published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network in collaboration with Gallup World Poll and the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, the happiest country in Africa right now has been revealed.
The World Happiness Report covers 147 countries around the world, including 40 from Africa. It shows that Mauritius has once again become the happiest country on the continent, while Sierra Leone ranks as the least happy.
Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean whose economy relies heavily on tourism, agriculture, and services, ranks 78th globally in this annual report, which attempts to quantify the happiness levels of populations across 147 countries worldwide.
Libya ranks second in Africa (79th globally), followed by South Africa, Mozambique, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Republic of the Congo, and Guinea.
Namibia (103rd globally) closes out the African top 10, overtaking Senegal, which held that position in the previous ranking.
The World Happiness Report’s annual rankings are largely based on participants’ subjective assessments of their own happiness, as well as on economic and social data measured across six variables: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption.
This year, the report also explores how household size correlates with happiness, finding that a household size of around four members is predictive of higher happiness levels, according to Ecofin Agency.
