Nigeria is missing in the top spot for countries that offer their citizens the best quality of life, according to the latest Quality of Living Index by Global Citizen Solutions.
The report ranked Nigeria 135th out of 199 countries, with an overall score of 54.1, making the country unattractive for people looking to shift base from their home countries, probably due to adverse effects of climate change, economic opportunities and persecution or large-scale human rights violations, among others.
The rating, which took into consideration the availability and cost of day-to-day amenities, such as infrastructure, cost of living, personal and political freedom, environmental quality and attitudes towards foreigners, comes on the backdrop of the harsh economic condition in Nigeria and reflects the current cost of living crisis in the country.
The report scored Nigeria low in both the standard of living of the population and pursuit of attainment of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, while it scored the country partially free in terms of protection of personal freedom.
The country scored very low in environmental quality and very high in migrants’ acceptance.
At 54.1, Nigeria comes behind African countries such as Namibia (87th), South Africa (88), Tunisia (90th), Ghana (91st), Seychelles (101st), Morocco (103rd), Senegal (106), Botswana (107), Algeria (108) and Cote d’ Ivoire at 115th, among others.
It bested countries like Maldives, Libya, China, Brunei, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Gabon in overall quality of living standards.
Meanwhile, European countries such as Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark and Spain emerged in the top five on the list.
The report said: “The Quality of Living Index looks at the overall quality of life a country offers. For the Quality of Living dimension, the goal set was to assess how good life is in the country as a permanent/primary place of residence for expats, retirees, and anyone seeking desirable living conditions abroad.
“The set of orienting questions was: What is the overall level of human development/general population quality of life? How happy is the country’s population? How good is healthcare? How affordable is good healthcare? How safe is living in the country? How good is education? How good is it as a travel hub? What is the level of freedom experienced by the country’s population?
“Several thematic areas were prioritized, and research was undertaken to identify reliable data sources with comprehensive country coverage.
Six main weights of indicators are included in the index, including SDG (30%), Cost of Living (20%), Freedom in the World (20%), Happiness Score (10%), Environmental Performance (10%), and Migrant Acceptance(10%).”