We Africans are an unhappy lot. I am not joking – scientifically derived statistics are available to back this up, and it appears the advent of Covid-19 has exacerbated our collective melancholy.

The latest evidence of our poor showing in the happiness stakes is contained in the 2021 World Happiness Report, published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network earlier this year.

The report is the culmination of a worldwide survey that canvassed respondents’ evaluations of their quality of life. Participants were also asked whether they had “smiled or laughed a lot yesterday and whether they experienced enjoyment during a lot of yesterday”. Another question required respondents to state whether “they experienced specific negative emotions during a lot of the day yesterday”.

According to the report – the ninth in the series – the happiest people on Planet Earth are the residents of Finland. This is the fourth time in a row that the Nordic country has clinched this accolade.

In second place are the Icelanders, with the folks in Denmark in third place, followed by those in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Norway and New Zealand. Austria rounds out the top ten.

Only one African country – Mauritius – is among the 50 happiest countries in the world, occupying the forty-fourth position. The second-highest ranking African country after Mauritius is Nigeria, which is fifty-ninth overall. Next is Ghana, which is ranked sixty-fifth, above Hong Kong, while Côte d’Ivoire is ranked seventieth and Cameroon seventy-first.

The residents of all these African countries lead happier lives than we in Mzansi, if the findings of the 2021 World Happiness Report are anything to go by. No surprise here, I would say. After all, South Africa is the world’s most unequal country. For the majority in this country who are wallowing in poverty, seeing the few lucky ones parading their wealth is most certainly unlikely to send them into rhapsodies.

The consolation for South Africans is that there are far unhappier folks elsewhere on the continent. Some of them are just across the river – in Zimbabwe, which anchors the 95-country list, compiled from data gathered during 2020. That country has gone through a lot: a dictatorship, natural disasters – including tropical cyclones in 2019 – as well as financial disasters in the form of hyperinflation. Last year, the inflation rate was reported as being 786%. Although much lower than the stratospheric levels of 2009 – 89.7 sextillion per cent – an inflation rate in the hundreds is still very high and is accompanied by sharp increases in the prices of food, for instance – which is hardly a cause for happiness.

In the penultimate position in Africa (and ninety-fourth overall) are our brothers and sisters in Tanzania.

Also ranking below South Africa are Benin (90), Namibia (88), Egypt (87), Kenya (86), Ethiopia (85), Uganda (83), Tunisia (82), Morocco (80) and Zambia (79).

The widespread unhappiness (read anxiety) caused by Covid-19 has not been simply about health. Although scores have been infected and many have lost loved ones, the pandemic has had economic implications as well: millions worldwide have lost their jobs since early 2020 as companies folded as a result of Covid. That, obviously, has caused widespread ‘unhappiness’.

The lockdown measures imposed by governments to curb the spread of the virus have also meant isolation from friends and family, further causing ‘unhappiness’.

One of the positives from the report is the surprising resilience that people have demonstrated. While there was a roughly 10% increase in the number of people who said they felt worried or sad the previous day, the report concluded that having trust in others contributed more to life satisfaction.