If the happiness index of a country is measured by its music, dance, art and comedy skits, Nigerians could easily be among the top contenders for the Happiest People on Earth globally.
Even Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, toyed with the idea in his latest novel, The Happiest People on Earth.
Sadly, this is not the case.
The newly released 2024 World Happiness Index has shown that Nigeria is among the countries with the least happy people in the world.
Actually, the Happiest People on Earth for the 2024 year are Oldies 60 years and above.
And guess what? They live in Denmark!
The highest happiness score in 2024 is 7.92 out of 10, representing the happiness score of old people, 60 and above, in Denmark.
Really, the happiest people of all ages living on earth live in Finland. They scored 7.74 on the happiness scale, where 0 means the least level of happiness, and 10 is the maximum level of happiness.
The happiest young people, aged below 30, live in Lithuania with a happiness score of 7.76.
The happiest lower middle-aged people, aged 30 – 44, live in Finland.
The same country hosts the happiest upper middle-aged people, aged 45-59, with a happiness score of 7.90.
For the oldies, 60 and above, they enjoy their time most in Denmark, with a score of 7.92.
Afghanistan hosts people of all age grades who have the least happiness in the world.
In fact, the lowest happiness score for the 2024 year is 1.46 out of 10, representing the happiness score of old people, 60 years and above, in Afghanistan.
In essence, the saddest set of people in the world currently are the old people in Afghanistan
The World Happiness Index Report is based on individual perceptions of different aspects of life that induce happiness. It measures major areas of human existence that explain individual and national happiness, such as the economy, social welfare, health and governance.
This year’s report measured 143 countries as opposed to its measure of 151 countries in previous years.
It aimed to measure the happiness of “the world’s young, old and everyone in between.”
The 2024 World Happiness Report shows that in the last 12 years, there has been an increase of over 20% in happiness inequality among regions and age groups.
Happiness in Nigeria: Past Vs Present
Nigeria ranks 102nd on the World’s Happiness ranking. This is a decline from the 95th position it held in 2023.
Nigerians perceive themselves to be less happy in 2024 compared to 2023.
However, this has not been the worst year for Nigerians’ perception of their happiness. The country’s indices and ranking were the lowest in 2022. They ranked 118th with an index of 4.55 out of 10.
The report measures individuals’ quality of life or life satisfaction based on these six key variables: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and perception of corruption.
This indicates that most Nigerians have identified that their quality of life, such as living arrangements, income, health behaviours, condition and care, social engagement and support, have not improved significantly in the last five years.
This degree of life satisfaction also varies across the age groups and has greatly changed in the last 12 years of the report.
Life Satisfaction among Age Groups in Nigeria
Nigeria has a booming population of over 210 million, about 70% below 30 years of age. This means that the highest percentage of the population is the Young.
The report shows that young people in Nigeria below 30 years of age are unsatisfied with life there. They are ranked 108th in the world happiness index for young people, with a score of 4.91 over 10.
Since the young population makes up about 70% of the country’s population, it implies that more than half of the nation’s population is not happy with the quality of their life. Therefore, the country is evaluated as not having good life satisfaction.
This unhappiness of the young can be attributed to age-related variables, such as schooling, employment, social interactions and support, financial status, and health, which affect their quality of life.
The report shows that more young people, of which Nigeria is not exempted, are struggling with loneliness, less social support and tangible social connectedness than other age groups, and this has resulted in lesser life satisfaction.
Most Young people in Nigeria are experiencing greater difficulty accessing the variables mentioned above as a recent decline in the country’s living standards has further decreased their quality of life. Most of them cannot afford the things needed to improve their quality of life and gain better life satisfaction.
The Happiest Age Group in Nigeria
In contrast, the Upper middle age group consists of people between the ages of 45 and 59 years old and has been reported to be the happiest age group in the country.