For the sixth year in a row, Finland has been named the world’s happiest country.

The Nordic state leads the United Nations’ 2023 World Happiness Report which looks at a range of factors in more than 130 countries: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption, to determine how “happy” a country is.

Scandinavian countries dominated yet again with Denmark second, Iceland third, Sweden sixth and Norway just one place behind in seventh. Israel was a big mover, jumping up five places to fourth. New Zealand held steady in 10th.

Only one new country entered the top 20: Lithuania. The Baltic state has bolted up the rankings from 52nd in 2017 to number 20. It replaces France in the top 20, which slips to 21st.

At the other end of the rankings, Afghanistan is last with Lebanon just above it.

One of the report’s authors Professor John F Helliwell said that the average happiness and rankings “have been remarkably stable during the three Covid-19 years”.

“Changes in rankings that have taken place have been continuations of longer-term trends, such as the increases seen in the rankings of the three Baltic countries,” said Helliwell.

“Even during these difficult years, positive emotions have remained twice as prevalent as negative ones, and feelings of positive social support twice as strong as those of loneliness.”

Tourism officials in Finland have recently capitalised on its top ranking by launching a “masterclass” in how to be happy.

The idea is to find people who want to connect with their “inner Finn”. Those selected will get a four-day stay at Kuru Resort in Finnish Lakeland for “in-person coaching on how to find their inner happiness”.

2023 world’s happiest countries:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Israel
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Norway
8. Switzerland
9. Luxembourg
10. New Zealand
11. Austria
12. Australia
13. Canada
14. Ireland
15. United States
16. Germany
17. Belgium
18. Czech Republic
19. United Kingdom
20. Lithuania