Finland is the happiest country in the world for the seventh year in succession but the Netherlands has dropped one place to sixth, according to the latest edition of the UN sponsored survey.

Every year, the UN ranks countries in terms of their population’s self-reported wellbeing, as well as perceptions of corruption, generosity and freedom.

Sweden has overtaken Israel and the Netherlands to take fourth place, pushing the Netherlands into sixth.

The researchers also point out the survey in Palestine took place before the Hamas attacks and the Israel survey after the hostage taking and before much of the subsequent warfare.

As a result, life evaluations fell sharply in Israel but not all the impact is included in the current rankings.

The top countries no longer include any of the largest countries and in the top 10 only the Netherlands and Australia have populations over 15 million.

The research shows “the young” are the least happy population group in the Netherlands in terms of age.