Morocco Ranks 2nd Happiest North African Country

Rabat – The 2022 World Happiness Report has ranked Morocco second in North Africa and 100 out of 146 in the world amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Algeria ranked first in North Africa and 96th globally ahead of Morocco (100th), Tunisia (120th), and Egypt (129th).

The report put Libya in the 86th position and Mauritania in 133rd position, based on 2019 statistics. The researchers did not survey the populations of both countries in 2020 and 2021.

Morocco obtained a close second ranking in the region with a 2019-2021 average score of 5.211 out of 8 compared to 5.122 for Algeria, 4.516 for Tunisia, and 4.288 for Egypt.

These rankings are based on indicators including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.

In Morocco, GDP per capita was the dominating factor impacting the ranking ahead of social support, healthy life expectations, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.

Notably, the happiest countries, according to the report, include Finland (7.821), Denmark (7.636), Iceland (7.557), Switzerland (7.512), and the Netherlands (7.415).

Finland ranked first for the fifth year in a row as the happiest country in the world, while Afghanistan secured the unhappiest country title, ranking 146th. Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Botswana round out the bottom of the ranking.

Created a decade ago, the report aims to respond to governments’ desire to advance happiness as a core element of global development.

“The lesson of the World Happiness Report over the years is that social support, generosity to one another, and honesty in government are crucial for well-being. Politics should be directed as the great sages long ago insisted: to the well-being of the people, not the power of the rulers,” said the report’s editor Jeffrey Sachs on March 18.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, “helping strangers, volunteering, and donations in 2021 were strongly up in every part of the world, reaching levels almost 25% above their pre-pandemic prevalence,” Sachs added.

The results confirm that people tend to help each other more during times of crisis, bringing more happiness for themselves and the beneficiaries.