According to the World Hapiness Index report released on March 20, 2023, Benin’s citizens are not happy at all. Ranked 22nd in Africa and 116th in the world, Patrice Talon’s country has fallen back in the 2023 ranking of the world’s happiest countries compared to its 2020 rank.
The 2023 edition of the happiness index report reveals that Benin, a West African country where Patrice Talon has initiated reforms to “reveal” it to the world, has risen from 86th place in 2020 to 116th place in 2023 globally with a score of 4.374 out of 10. While in 2020, the country achieved its highest ranking in the world in 10 years (86th in 2020 compared to 102nd in the report for the period 2008-2012).
Thus, at the continental level, Benin is ranked 22nd behind Chad. In 2020, the country ranked 4th behind Ivory Coast, Libya and Mauritius. Furthermore, in the 2023 Happiness Index, the African top 5 is dominated by Mauritius, Algeria, South Africa, Congo and Guinea. Sierra Leone stands out as the least happy country on the continent, followed by Zimbabwe and the DRC.
In addition, it should be noted that every year since 2012, the World Happiness Report has ranked the happiest countries. The report takes into account 153 countries around the world and is based on several criteria such as life expectancy, social benefits, political institutions, freedom, education, GDP/capita, level of social cohesion, generosity and perceived corruption. The ranking is based on the answers of about 1,000 people per state, who rank themselves on a scale from 0 to 10, while answering questions about their emotions, their health, the future.
