Citizens of icy northern Europe have sunnier outlooks on life than those in the Mediterranean, according to the UN World Happiness Report.
Malta was ranked as the 48th happiest country in the survey, published on Monday. It placed 47th last year.
The top five were Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden. Finland, Austria and Iceland also made it to the top 10.
Countries in southern Europe fared much worse than their northern counterparts.
Cyprus came in at 34th, Spain was 38th, Italy 45th and Greece 70th. All of them have been badly affected by the financial crisis in recent years.
The report ranked the US as the 17th happiest country in the world and the UK as the 22nd.
Among other major nations, Germany placed 26th, Japan 43rd, Russia 68th and China 93rd.
The UN published its first World Happiness Report in 2012 in an effort to encourage members to use happiness and well-being as a guide to public policy.
“There is a rising worldwide demand that policy be more closely aligned with what really matters to people as they characterise their well-being,” said Jeffery Sachs, one of the lead researchers, in a press release.
“The World Happiness Report 2013 offers rich evidence that the systematic measurement and analysis of happiness can teach us a lot about ways to improve the world’s well-being and sustainable development,” Prof. Sachs said.
Malta was ranked as the 48th happiest country
A total of 156 countries were surveyed by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which focused on 2010-2012.
Researchers used Gallup World Poll data from the last three years to make assessments on factors such as healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, generosity and social support.
Participants were asked to respond to each question using a scale of zero to 10 and countries were given an overall score based on this scale.
Malta’s score was 5.964, while Denmark’s was 7.693.
At the bottom of the table was the West African country of Togo, with a score of 2.936.
Compared to the results published in 2012, happiness scores went up for 60 countries and down in 41.
Mental health was the single most important determinant of individual happiness, according to the report.
About 10 per cent of the world’s population suffered from clinical depression or crippling anxiety disorders, the report said.
The UN report ranks Malta far lower than similar studies by other entities.
In 2005 and 2006, the Maltese were ranked as the happiest people on earth in the World Database of Happiness, compiled by Ruut Veenhoven, a Dutch sociologist and a pioneer and world authority on the scientific study of happiness.
As recently as 2009, the island was named the second happiest country in Europe by a British think tank, New Economics Foundation.