These are the happiest countries in the world

Norway is the happiest country in the world, according to a report by the United Nations.

The UN’s annual World Happiness Report has seen Norway displace its Scandinavian rival Denmark at the top of the smile charts.

Those two nations were followed by Iceland, Switzerland and Finland in a top five dominated by European nations.

The Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden round out the top ten, while the United Kingdom came in 19th place.

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This was an improvement for the UK on the 2016 index, in which it was 23rd.

In the first ever World Happiness Report in 2012, the UK was 18th, before sliding out to 21st by 2015.

The report is produced by the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network and uses six different measurements to calculate happiness.

These are healthy life expectancy, social support, absence of corruption, freedom to make life choices, generosity and GDP per capita.

Norway’s leap to the top was something of a surprise, as it had finished in fourth place for the previous two years.

Denmark has won the happiness title four times, while Switzerland has one win to its name.

The full list is available here.