Nigeria has been ranked seventh among the world’s friendliest countries to strangers, according to the United Nations’ 2025 World Happiness Report. The annual report, produced by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, evaluates 147 countries based on self-reported well-being and prosocial behaviors such as donating, volunteering, and helping others.
Despite Nigeria’s high ranking for acts of spontaneous kindness and friendliness toward strangers, the country placed 105th overall in happiness, reflecting challenges related to life satisfaction and systemic issues.
The report highlights a notable gap between informal generosity and institutional trust in Nigeria, a pattern common in several African countries. For example, Nigeria ranked 33rd in the likelihood of a lost wallet being returned if found by a stranger, 71st if found by a neighbor, but dropped to 126th if found by the police. This underscores weak confidence in law enforcement and public institutions.
The report explains that in countries with fragile institutions, helping strangers often becomes the most direct and effective form of benevolence.
Other countries with similar patterns of friendliness toward strangers include Jamaica, Liberia, Trinidad, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Zambia.
While Nigeria ranked 45th for charitable donations, the preference tends to be for direct, person-to-person support rather than formal giving through institutions.
