Denmark is the happiest country in the world, while Burundi and Zimbabwe seem to be the most unhappy, according to a University of Leicester report.

The latest analysis is based on the findings of over 100 different studies around the world, which questioned over 80,000 people.

Participants in the various studies were asked questions related to happiness and satisfaction with life.

The Leicester study also looked at health, wealth and access to education.

Switzerland is the second-happiest place on earth, followed by Austria in third, Iceland in fourth and The Bahamas in fifth.

The report also found that Finland, Sweden, Canada, Malta, New Zealand and Norway were in the top twenty happiest places to live.

Wealth is not the main reason for happiness, with the US, Germany, the UK and France all failing to make the top twenty.

Burundi, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the unhappiest nations on the planet.

According to the Leicester study, a nation's level of happiness was most closely associated with health, followed by wealth and the provision of education.

Lead researcher Adrian White said: "The concept of happiness, or satisfaction with life, is currently a major area of research in economics and psychology, most closely associated with new developments in positive psychology.

"It has also become a feature in the current political discourse in the UK. There is increasing political interest in using measures of happiness as a national indicator in conjunction with measures of wealth."

In two other happiness surveys this year, the World Database of Happiness ranked Malta first and the New Economics Foundation put Vanuatu top.

The 10 happiest nations in the world are:
1 - Denmark
2 - Switzerland
3 - Austria
4 - Iceland
5 - The Bahamas
6 - Finland
7 - Sweden
8 - Bhutan
9 - Brunei
10 - Canada
Source: University of Leicester