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It’s official: SA voted the friendliest country in the world
Sunday Tribune
|July 05, 2026
IF YOU’VE ever walked down any street in South Africa, chances are you've been greeted by a smiling stranger, shared a joke while waiting in a queue, or been treated like family by someone you only met five minutes ago.
Now, it’s official: South Africa is the friendliest country in the world.
According to a global study by financial services provider Remitly, the Rainbow Nation has secured the top spot, outshining famous hospitality hotspots like Greece, Croatia and Mexico.
How the study works
To find the world’s most welcoming nations, researchers surveyed over 3 000 people across 27 countries, using the “agreeableness” section of the widely recognised Big Five Personality Test.
While the broader test measures five key traits, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism and agreeableness, this study focused purely on agreeableness as the ultimate metric for social harmony.
This story is from the July 05, 2026 edition of Sunday Tribune.
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