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Nigeria ranks 31st in Africa and 142nd in the world on the 2023 Legatum Prosperity Index. Now in its 16th year, the index measures prosperity in 167 countries representing over 99% of the world’s population. It comprises three domains, namely “inclusive societies”, “open economies”, and “empowered people”.

Amongst what it says are concerning trends, in 6 out of 12 pillars of the prosperity index, the bottom 40 countries – including Nigeria – have deteriorated, while, on average, the rest of the world has improved. While the group saw improvement in some areas, the progress was not fast enough to catch up to the rest of the world. The report, which was sent to Financial Nigeria, sees deterioration in civil liberties in many countries, including many fragile democracies, as the most concerning trends.

However, the report sees as the most promising trend the finding that basic needs in health, education, and living conditions are being met more than ever globally.

Except New Zealand (10th), the top 10 countries on the index are in Europe, mostly in the Scandinavian subregion, with Denmark as the top country. Seven of the countries in the bottom 10 ranking are in Africa, joined by Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen, with South Sudan at the bottom. Mauritius, 47th in the world, ranks most highly for overall prosperity in Sub-Saharan Africa.