Despite poverty, unemployment, rising costs of living and conflicts, Cameroon came 11th happiest country in Africa and 105th globally in the World Happiness Report.
Gallup published a happiness report for 2025 on March 20, in partnership with Oxford University, the Wellbeing Research Centre, and the Sustainable Development Network, a global initiative for the United Nations.
The report emphasised caring and sharing, sharing meals, living together, connecting, supporting, trusting, and giving to others.
Researchers collected data from 147 countries globally between 2022 and 2024.
Countries rank themselves based on their averaged life evaluations over the years.
The 13th edition of the World Happiness Report published its findings on March 20 to mark the UN’s International Day of Happiness.
Gallup reports that global evidence on the perceived and actual return of lost wallets reveals that people underestimate the kindness of their communities compared to reality.
“Actual rates of wallet return are around twice as high as people expect. Believing that others are willing to return your lost wallet is also shown to be a strong predictor of population happiness: Nordic nations once again top the ranking of the world’s happiest countries, but they also rank among the top places for expected and actual return of lost wallets,” the report said.
Cameroon
In Cameroon, sampled individuals reported a life evaluation of 4.887, accompanied by a dystopia of 1.37 and additional residuals.
The data is able to demonstrate the GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perception of corruption.
Cameroon’s ranking compared to last year’s report has remained the same at 104, but within Africa has shifted from 12th position to 11th.
However, Cameroon is followed by Nigeria, which is coming in the 105th position globally and 12th within the continent.
So, according to the report, Cameroonians have continued to be generous and kind to other people.
Mauritius first in Africa
According to the report, the Indian Ocean country Mauritius is the second happiest country in Africa, seconded by Libya.
Libya has performed outstandingly compared to last year, when it came at the bottom of the table. This year, the least happy African country is Sierra Leone.
Though Mauritius is first in Africa, it comes in at 78th position globally.
The happiest country in the world now is Finland, followed by Denmark.
