The United Nations' World Happiness Report was released on Wednesday.

South Africa dropped to the 105th position in the world – down from 101 a year ago.

Finland was named the world's happiest country.

You'd be happier living in drought-hit Somalia, terrorist-prone Pakistan, suppressed Palestine, or communist China than in South Africa, a report by the United Nations (UN) said on Wednesday.

South Africa was named the world's 105th happiest country – out of 156 countries listed – in the World Happiness report.

A year ago South Africa was in position 101.

"[Countries with] the largest declines in average life evaluations typically suffered some combination of economic, political, and social stresses," the report says.

The report is based on polls conducted by Gallup between 2015 and 2017.

See also: 8 African countries happier than South Africa

Finland inched out its neighbour Norway to become the world's happiest country, closely followed by Denmark (third), Iceland (fourth), Switzerland (fifth) and the Netherlands (sixth).

Canada held the seventh position, New Zealand eight, Sweden ninth and Australia tenth.

Though they've swapped position in some cases, those top ten countries have remained in the lead for the past two years.

They all tend to have high values for all six of the key variables found to support well-being which includes: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust, and generosity.

Togo in West Africa was the biggest gainer, moving up 17 positions to 139. Venezuela – plagued by civil unrest – was the biggest loser dropping to 102.

But it was still happier than South Africa.

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