South Africa has been officially named as the friendliest country in the world, according to a 2024 study, presented by Remitly. The survey was conducted across 27 nations for over 3000 people. The country has recorded an impressive score of 34.63 out of 40 on the ‘Agreeableness’ trait of the Big Five Personality Test.
The Rainbow Nation has stood out for its remarkable spirit of ubuntu and unmatched hospitality. From receiving heartfelt welcomes to a deep-rooted sense of community, South Africans continue to radiate warmth and kindness by earning global recognition as the epitome of friendliness.
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Considering this, the official tourism promoting page for Africa #VisitSouthAfrica shared their happiness and expressed, “No wonder we were crowned the Friendliest Country in the World in 2024! In spots like Limpopo and the Free State, you’ll be welcomed into locals’ homes, where you can enjoy authentic meals and dive deep into the culture.”
The Government of South Africa also shared their happiness regarding the same and acknowledged this achievement. Also, Cape Town Travel has claimed that studies find that a trip to Cape Town will improve the Mental Health of the Humans.
South Africa as Friendliest Country
Recognising South Africa, the Remitly penned, situated on the southernmost point of Africa between two oceans, South Africa is a beautiful and diverse country which provides plenty of compelling reasons to move there.
No wonder we were crowned the Friendliest Country in the World in 2024*! In spots like Limpopo and the Free State, you’ll be welcomed into locals’ homes, where you can enjoy authentic meals and dive deep into the culture.#VisitSouthAfrica
*According to a study by Remitly pic.twitter.com/2AN8Vcjykn
— VisitSouthAfrica (@gotosouthafrica) February 5, 2025
One of the major advantages of living in this 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.
Remitly further added, the residents living here are known for being warm and welcoming, making it easy for travellers and visitors alike to feel at ease around them. it’s not uncommon to be greeted by polite strangers while walking down the street and South Africans are generally happy to socialise, by engaging in conversations and showing off their good humour, making plenty of jokes as an added plus point.
It is that there are eleven official languages which are spoken in South Africa comprising of English, Afrikaans and nine Ethnic languages, i.e. there are plentiful ways to communicate with the locals and make new friends.
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Method used by Remitly
Using the Prolific, Remitly tested 3000 participants from 27 countries around the world on the ‘agreeableness’ trait of the Big 5 Personality Test, a globally recognised and standardised personality test.
Remitly tested the participants on a simplified version of the ‘agreeableness’ section of the Big 5 Personality Test, moreover asking them the questions that gave them a score of between 1 and 40 as to how ‘agreeable’ they were.
The higher they scored on the test, the more ‘agreeable’ they are, as identified by the personality test. Therefore, the more friendly they are. The officials then calculated the average score of people in each country to calculate an average ‘friendliness’ score for each nation. The data was collected as of April 2024.
Our nation is the friendliest
As part of the research, they also asked the participants which countries they believed to be the most-friendly, and interestingly, over half (57%) of the people voted for their own nations as the friendliest country.
Good Morning SA! Did You Know?
South Africa has officially been named the friendliest country in the world! 🌍💛
Out of 27 nations ranked for agreeableness by @Remitly, SA took the top spot — and honestly, we’re not surprised. From ubuntu to everyday kindness, South Africans are… pic.twitter.com/y3p7Yg1exa— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) April 19, 2025
According to the study, the friendliest nation is the South Africans were revealed as being particularly patriotic with a whopping 97% of South Africans saying that their own country was the friendliest nation in the world.
While some nations might seem friendlier than others, marked Remitly, as it is important to remember that when it comes to making friends, no matter where you’ve moved to, immersing yourself in local communities, cultures and customs will help one to create their new home away from home.
Wherever, one is setting up a new life, it may take some time but one has to be sure to find like-minded people who will make their experience of living abroad even more special.
Top 25 friendliest nations according to the ‘agreeableness’ trait of the Big 5 Personality Test out of 40 are:
- 1st is South Africa in Africa with 34.63 points
- 2nd is Greece in Europe with 33.71 points
- 3rd is Croatia in Europe with 33.50 points
- 4th is Mexico in North America with 33.47 points
- 5th is Sweden in Europe with 33.30 points
- 6th is Australia in Oceania with 33.13 points
- 7th is Canada in North America with 32.84 points
- 8th is Germany in Europe with 32.66 points
- 9th is Estonia in Europe with 32.58 points
- 10th is Belgium in Europe with 32.50 points
- 11th is Spain in Europe with 32.41 points
- 12th is Czech Republic in Europe with 32.36 points
- 13th is Italy in Europe with 32.34 points
- 14th is Japan in Asia with 32.33 points
- 15th is United States in North America with 32.31 points
- 16th is Netherlands in Europe with 32.27 points
- 17th is Portugal in Europe with 32.25 points
- 18th is United Kingdom in Europe with 32.21 points
- 19th is Poland in Europe with 31.99 points
- 20th is Switzerland in Europe with 31.89 points
- 21st is Austria in Europe with 31.83 points
- 22nd is France in Europe with 31.71 points
- 23rd is Ireland in Europe with 31.54 points
- 24th is Hungary in Europe with 31.43 points
- 25th is Finland in Europe with 31.28 points
What is Remitly
Remitly is an American online remittance service based in Seattle, US that offers nternational money transfers to over 170 countries. It was founded in 2011 by Matthew Oppenheimer, Josh Hug and Shivaas Gulati, which became publicly traded on the Nasdeq exchange in September 2021.