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For the eighth consecutive year, Finland has been named the world's happiest country, with experts attributing the achievement to access to nature and a robust welfare system. The Scandinavian nation topped the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, leading a pack of Nordic countries. In a notable shift, Latin America's Costa Rica and Mexico both entered the top 10, while the UK and US slipped down the list, with the US reaching its lowest-ever ranking at 24th.
The study also found strangers are about twice as kind as people think. It measured trust in strangers by deliberately losing wallets, seeing how many were returned and comparing that with how many people thought would be handed in.
The rate of wallets returned was almost twice as high as people predicted and the study, which gathered evidence from around the world, found belief in the kindness of others was more closely tied to happiness than previously thought.
The 13th annual World Happiness Report, released to mark the UN's International Day of Happiness, ranks the world's happiest countries by asking people to evaluate their lives.
Finland again took top spot with an average score of 7.736 out of 10, with Denmark in second.
Experts said family bonds were a factor in Costa Rica's and Mexico's rise in the rankings.
The study, published by the University of Oxford's Wellbeing Research Centre, asked people to rate their own lives on a scale of 0-10 - zero being the worst possible life and 10 being the best possible life.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, said the findings reconfirmed "happiness is rooted in trust, kindness and social connection".
"It is up to us as virtuous individuals and citizens to translate this vital truth into positive action, thereby fostering peace, civility, and wellbeing in communities worldwide," he said.
