Zimbabweans are nowhere near the happiest people on earth

Zimbabweans are nowhere near the happiest people on earth, according to 2017 World Happiness Report issued by a United Nations agency.

Zimbabwe is ranked poorly in this year's happiness index, which averaged rankings of happiness over the years 2014 to 2016. The country was ranked number 138 out of 155 in the world, with a score of 3,875 points and was beaten by countries such as Iraq. In Africa, Zimbabwe was ranked number 31 out of 44, and was beaten by Zambia (116), Mozambique (113), Sudan (130) and Malawi (136).
 
To explain happiness differences among countries, the index mainly looks at key variables such as GDP per capita, healthy years of life expectancy, social support, trust (

"Zimbabwe, formerly a breadbasket in southern Africa and now often regarded as a failed state, where unemployment and poverty are endemic and political strife and repression are commonplace, has experienced some poverty relief in daily life over the past decade," said the report.
 
"The drop in Zimbabwe's lived poverty score of 0.61 points is matched by a corresponding increase of 0.64 points in its happiness score," said the report.

A series of studies of democracy and happiness in the authoritarian states of Chad and Zimbabwe, and in South Africa's new democracy, suggest that even when the demand for democracy in Africa is not matched by satisfaction with living conditions, discontent is tempered by optimism for the future.

World happiness: Top 25 countries

1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Switzerland
5. Finland
6. Netherlands
7. Canada
8. New Zealand
9. Australia
10. Sweden
11. Israel
12. Costa Rica
13. Austria
14. United States
15. Ireland
16. Germany
17. Belgium
18. Luxembourg
19. United Kingdom
20. Chile
21. United Arab Emirates
22. Brazil
23. Czech Republic
24. Argentina
25. Mexico