Finland and Israel among happiest countries in the world

The World Happiness Report was published on Wednesday showing that the US and Germany have dropped from the top 20 for the first time since 2012.

The decline of both countries is due to the strengthening of happiness in the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovenia.

The US came in 23rd and Germany 24th.

Israel rose to fifth place in the index after reaching eighth place last year.

These are the 20 happiest countries in the world:

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Israel
6. The Netherlands
7. Norway
8. Luxembourg
9. Switzerland
10. Australia
11. New Zealand
12. Costa Rica
13. Kuwait
14. Austria
15. Canada
16. Belgium
17. Ireland
18. Czechia
19. Lithuania
20. UK

The bottom of the list is held by Lebanon, Lesotho, Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo, with Afghanistan in the last place.