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Belfast is the least happy place in Northern Ireland, statistics have revealed.

People rated their happiness as 7.4 out of 10 in 2016/17 compared to people in Newry, Mourne and Down who are the happiest.

However, the rating was up from 7.2 in 2015/16, making it the highest happiness rating since the survey began.

The average happiness rating for people in Northern Ireland was 7.7 out of 10 in 2016/17.

More than half of people in parts of Northern Ireland rate their happiness levels as very high.

In Newry, Mourne and Down , 52.8% of people rated their happiness as nine or 10 out of 10 in 2016/17, the highest proportion giving such high scores in the UK.

Overall, the average score for happiness in the area was 8.0 out of 10, making it the happiest place in Northern Ireland.

Newry, Mourne and Down also gave one of the highest scores in the UK for life satisfaction, at 8.3 out of 10, up from 8.2 in 2015/16. More than half of in the area, 51%, gave their satisfaction with life a score of nine or 10 out of 10.

People in Causeway Coast and Glens gave one of the highest average ratings in the UK for life being worthwhile, rating it at 8.4 out of 10 in 2016/17, up from 8.0 in 2015/16.

In 2016/17, people in Derry City and Strabane gave one of the highest average scores for levels of anxiety, rating it at 3.5 out of 10, up from 2.9 in 2015/16.

Matthew Steel, from the Office for National Statistics, said: "Today’s figures may surprise some, showing a small increase in both reported happiness and life satisfaction during a period that has seen political change and uncertainty.

"It's worth noting that employment rates rose during the period covered by this report, and other ONS analysis showed people perceiving an improvement in their own financial situations and in the overall economy. These are factors we believe may account for some people's increased sense of personal well-being."

Craven in North Yorkshire is the place where people gave the highest score to the question, how happy were you yesterday.

Respondents rated their average happiness as 8.3 out of 10 in 2016/17, up from 7.5 in 2015/16, meaning the area overtakes Eilean Siar, which was the happiest place in 2015/16, as the happiest place in the UK.

Across the UK, average ratings across the four measures of personal well-being in financial year ending March 2017 were: 7.7 out of 10 for life satisfaction, 7.9 out of 10 for feeling that what you do in life is worthwhile, 7.5 out of 10 for happiness yesterday and 2.9 out of 10 for anxiety yesterday.

Comparing the years ending March 2016 and 2017, there have been statistically significant improvements in average ratings of life satisfaction, up from 7.67 to 7.68 out of 10, and happiness, up from 7.49 to 7.51, for the UK overall.

There was no change in average ratings of anxiety and the sense that things done in life are worthwhile.

There were no changes in the proportion of people who reported their ratings of life satisfaction, worthwhile or happiness as low.

This indicates that increases in mean life satisfaction are being driven by more people reporting the highest levels of well-being, rather than a decrease in those reporting the lowest levels of well-being.

The 4 personal well-being questions are: overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays? overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile? overall, how happy did you feel yesterday? overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?

People are asked to respond on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is “not at all” and 10 is “completely”.