This article by Luke Fraser was first published in https://businesstech.co.za on 06 July 2024.
South Africa is the friendliest country in the world, according to a new survey from American-based payments group Remitly.
The survey has 3,000 participants from around the globe who answered a series of questions from the ‘agreeableness’ section of the Big 5 Personality Test.
The Big 5 personality test looks at five key personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism.
This study only looked at agreeableness as it is deemed the most effective way to gauge social harmony.
Respondents were asked questions to determine how concerned they feel for others, whether they take time for other people, and whether they like to make people feel at ease.
Higher scores showed that people were friendly, generous, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with others.
“People who score highly in this section of the test value getting along with others and have an optimistic view of human nature, meaning they’re likely to be warm and friendly to those they meet,” said Remitly.
“Potentially, a friend is waiting for those moving to a new country and looking to strike up a social group for themselves.”
South Africa topped the list in the agreeableness test with an “impressive” score of 34.63 out of 40.
Apart from South Africa’s natural beauty, Remitly said there are several compelling reasons to move to South Africa.
“One of the major advantages of living in the country is the affordable cost of living where the South African rand stretches far, with housing and everyday expenses allowing for a higher standard of living.”
“It also has an incredible array of wildlife to see and a warm climate helping residents to enjoy and explore the long stretches of beautiful coastline.”
“Residents are known for being warm and welcoming, making it easy for travellers and visitors alike to feel at ease around them.”
Remitly said that it is not uncommon to be greeted by polite strangers while walking down the street, with South Africans happy to socialise and show off their good sense of humour.
With 12 official languages now in place, there are also numerous ways to communicate with locals and make new friends.
Following South Africa, Greece, Croatia, Mexico and Sweden made the top five.
| Rank | Country | Average ‘friendliness’ score |
| 1 | South Africa | 34.63 |
| 2 | Greece | 33.71 |
| 3 | Croatia | 33.50 |
| 4 | Mexico | 33.47 |
| 5 | Sweden | 33.30 |
| 6 | Australia | 33.13 |
| 7 | Canada | 32.84 |
| 8 | Germany | 32.66 |
| 9 | Estonia | 32.58 |
| 10 | Belgium | 32.50 |
| 11 | Spain | 32.41 |
| 12 | Czech Republic | 32.36 |
| 13 | Italy | 32.34 |
| 14 | Japan | 32.33 |
| 15 | United States | 32.31 |
| 16 | Netherlands | 32.27 |
| 17 | Portugal | 32.25 |
| 18 | United Kingdom | 32.21 |
| 19 | Poland | 31.99 |
| 20 | Switzerland | 31.89 |
| 21 | Austria | 31.83 |
| 22 | France | 31.71 |
| 23 | Ireland | 31.54 |
| 24 | Hungary | 31.43 |
| 25 | Finland | 31.38 |