Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland were the other countries in the top five.

The estimates were based on the six of the key variables that have been found to support well-being: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity.

The top 10 countries on the list are: Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia.

The United States landed in 18th place, dropping four spots from previous year. It wasn't a surprise given America's chaotic situation and being governed by a maverick in Donald Trump.

Finland is the world's happiest country, according to the WHR.

He said the most remarkable finding was the consistency between locally born's happiness and that of immigrants.

(Web Desk) - Out of 156 countries, Pakistan ranked 75 in this year's World Happiness Report which has been published by the United Nations.

Pakistan's ranking has improved from its neighbouring countries, which were also enlisted in the world's happiness ranking including Bangladesh which ranked 115, Sri Lanka 116, India 133 and Afghanistan which ranked 145.

Meik Wiking, chief executive of the Happiness Research Institute, an independent think tank based in Copenhagen, said the high-ranking Nordic countries "are doing something right in terms of creating good conditions for good lives".

Although Canada was ranked seventh for the past two years, a comparison of data from 2008-2010 to 2015-2017 shows that we are slipping slightly.

In the sixth World Happiness Report, released ahead of the International Day of Happiness on March 20, the migration was the central issue under consideration.

And surprisingly you have to look very far on the list before a Southeast Asian country shows itself. But foreign-born people in the country are not as happy as local people.

For both domestic and global migrants, the report studies not just the happiness of the migrants and their host communities, but also of those left behind, and the results are generally positive.

However, it also placed Israel among the countries that are less tolerant of migrants and that do not accept migrants openly - this most probably as a result of Israel's policy toward Eritrean and Sudanese migrants and their impending deportation. "The countries with the happiest immigrants are not the richest countries, but instead the countries with a more balanced set of social and institutional supports for better lives", the summary stated. It said the United States is in the middle of "a complex and worsening public health crisis, involving.obesity, opioid addiction and major depressive disorder".