Finland is “the happiest country on earth” for the third consecutive year, according to the recently released World Happiness Report, a United Nations-affiliated survey based on the Gallup World Poll.

Since the first World Happiness Report in 2012, four different countries have held the top position: Denmark in 2012, 2013 and 2016, Switzerland in 2015, Norway in 2017, and now Finland in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The remaining countries in the top 10 are Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand, and Austria, followed by top-10 newcomer Luxembourg.

Canada, it might be noted, placed 11th dropping from 9th last year. The UK was 14th and the US 17th.

In addition to the country rankings, the World Happiness Report 2020 for the first time ranks cities around the world by their subjective well-being with “happiest city” honours belonging to Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Toronto placed 13th, the highest Canadian entry.

Not surprisingly, the report shows that in general the happiness ranking of cities is almost identical to that of the countries in which they are located. The report examines how the social, urban and natural environments combine to affect our happiness. For example, walking in greenspaces makes people happy – but especially so if they are with a friend.

“A happy social environment, whether urban or rural, is one where people feel a sense of belonging, where they trust and enjoy each other and their shared institutions,” says report co-editor, University of British Columbia professor John Helliwell. “There is also more resilience, because shared trust reduces the burden of hardships, and thereby lessens the inequality of well-being.”

For the record, the top 10 “unhappiest” countries are: Afghanistan, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Tanzania, Botswana, Yemen, Malawi and India.

The World Happiness Report 2020 is a publication of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a global initiative for the United Nations, and ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be, according to their evaluations of their own lives. Polling was conducted before the coronavirus pandemic took hold.