The Scandinavian nation of Finland has been voted as the "world's happiest country" for the fifth time in a row by its inhabitants.

According to the 2021 World Happiness Report, Finland was followed by Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, in terms of the happiest overall national population.

These five nations were swiftly followed in turn by Sweden, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, and Austria.

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Despite the impact Covid has had upon global rates of happiness, the researchers responsible for the report claim that their findings have been fair.

Sharing the results, a spokesperson for the World Happiness Report team stated:

"This whole report focuses on the effects of Covid-19 and how people all over the world have fared.

"Our aim was two-fold, first to focus on the effects of Covid-19 on the structure and quality of people's lives, and second to describe and evaluate how governments all over the world have dealt with the pandemic.

"In particular, we try to explain why some countries have done so much better than others."

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Meanwhile, John Helliwell, one of the people who worked on the study, stated:

"Surprisingly there was not, on average, a decline in well-being when measured by people's own evaluation of their lives.

"One possible explanation is that people see Covid-19 as a common, outside threat affecting everybody and that this has generated a greater sense of solidarity and fellow-feeling."

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Heli Jimenez, senior director of international marketing at Business Finland, added: "Finnish happiness isn't skin deep and immediately visible. It's deeply ingrained in our being.

"Sustainable happiness is our superpower, and it means we tend to take life as it comes - a trait that is helping us through these challenging times.

"We appreciate the small things in our daily lives, such as sitting quietly on a bench and staring at the empty lake after a relaxing sauna session or taking a morning dip in the sea before starting the working day."

Here are the final top 20 happiest countries:

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

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Finland is voted the 'World's Happiest Country' For the fourth year in a row