South Africa crowned World’s Most Adventurous country

South Africa has been named the world’s most adventurous nation, according to a global study by InsureandGo that used the Big 5 Personality Test to assess openness to new experiences.

Scoring an impressive 36.50 out of 40, South Africa leads a list of 15 nations that embrace thrill-seeking and adventure, with France and Mexico following closely behind. 

What is the Big 5 Personality Test? 

The test is a globally recognised and standardised personality test, which measures five key personality traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Openness to experience, the section of the test InsureandGo’s study is based on can be directly linked to how likely an individual is to seek out a variety of experiences, feel more comfortable with the unfamiliar, and try new things.  

To find out which nationalities exhibit the most ‘openness to experience’ 3 000 respondents from around the world were asked questions such as: whether trying something unfamiliar is exciting for them, whether they spend time learning about unfamiliar topics, and how much they enjoy straying from routine.

The higher a nation scored, on average, the more ‘open to experience’ they are, and as such the more adventurous they are likely to be.  

South Africa Named the World’s Most Adventurous Nation 

South Africa, who see around 350 000 citizens flying abroad on average each month, topped the list of the world’s most adventurous nations, with a score of 36.50 out of 40 sending them straight to the top. 

With the country’s landscape lending itself to adventure in any direction you look, from hiking to surfing and safaris, it’s no surprise that they lead the way as the nation most open to adventure. 

A country with a long-standing reputation for all things art, literature, music and cuisine, France ranks as the second most adventurous nation. French citizens may be so readily comfortable with discovering new experiences thanks to the incredible number of travelling opportunities to neighbouring countries, as well as an incredibly exciting number of mountain, coastal and city landscapes to explore within their own borders. 

Mexico follows behind in third scoring 34.99 out of 40 in the study, also making it the most adventurous North American nation, with Greece in fourth and the United States in fifth.

The top 15 most adventurous nations according to the ‘openness to experience’ trait of the Big 5 Personality Test: