Nigeria Ranks 7th Among World’s Friendliest Countries to Strangers, According to UN’s 2025 World Happiness Report

Nigeria has been ranked as the 7th friendliest country to strangers globally, according to the recently released 2025 World Happiness Report by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The annual report, produced in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre and Gallup, assesses 147 countries based on various indicators, including prosocial behaviors like helping others.

Despite its high ranking for spontaneous acts of kindness and generosity towards strangers, Nigeria’s overall happiness score placed it at 105th in the general happiness index. This significant disparity highlights a common pattern in several African countries where a strong culture of informal generosity coexists with challenges in institutional trust and overall life satisfaction.

The World Happiness Report evaluates countries on self-reported well-being and specific prosocial actions, such as donating, volunteering, and offering help to unknown individuals. While Nigeria scored impressively in the “helping strangers” category, it ranked considerably lower in other measures of benevolence, such as charitable donations.

The report specifically noted a gap between the willingness to help strangers and the level of confidence in public systems. For instance, when respondents were asked about the likelihood of a lost wallet being returned, Nigeria ranked 33rd if found by a stranger, but significantly lower at 71st if found by a neighbor, and a stark 126th if found by the police. This trend, according to the report, underscores weaker confidence in law enforcement and public institutions.

The report suggests that in environments where institutional structures are less robust, directly helping strangers often becomes the most accessible and effective form of altruism.

Other countries that ranked high in the “helping strangers” category alongside Nigeria include Jamaica, Liberia, Trinidad, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Zambia. This recognition reaffirms Nigeria’s reputation for its hospitality and the warmth extended to visitors and those in need, even amidst its socio-economic challenges.