Finland has been named the country with the happiest population for the sixth year in a row, according to the new report "World Happiness 2023".

The report, which also dealt with the effects of the crisis caused by the coronavirus on people's well-being, is compiled every year by scientists in the United States based on surveys by the Gallup Institute.

According to the report, Finland is followed by Denmark, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg and New Zealand.

As for the Balkan countries, the best ranked is Slovenia (22nd place), then Kosovo (34th), Serbia (45th), Croatia (48th), Greece (58th), Montenegro (67th), Bosnia and Herzegovina (71st), Bulgaria (77) and Albania (83). The Macedonians are the unhappiest people in the Balkans and were ranked 87th out of 137 countries.

At the bottom of the list were mostly African countries, and war-torn Afghanistan and Lebanon are the two unhappiest countries in the world.

The scientists said people's assessment of happiness remained "remarkably resilient" despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with global averages in 2020 to 2022 as high as those in the pre-pandemic years of 2017 to 2019.