UK falls five places in global happiness index

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The UK has fallen five places on a list ranking nations by happiness, as researchers said mental health had been “one of the greatest casualties” of coronavirus. Researchers constructing the World Happiness Report said the measure for “life evaluation” in the UK fell from 7.16 in 2019 to 6.80 in 2020 – a statistically significant change. Dr Mark Williamson, chief executive of Action for Happiness, a charity and positive-thinking group, said: "This has been a tough year for so many of us and the World Happiness Report shows that the UK has suffered more than most when it comes to happiness. IFS researchers found: A general measure of UK mental health was 8 per cent lower than predicted in pandemic’s absence One-fifth of population had persistently worse mental health in first six months of crisis Young women initially worst-affect, but they recovered Women over 65 had “more persistent deteriorations” while middle-aged and older men were least-affected People with large friendship groups, or who lost work, were more likely to feel worse Those in strong romantic relationships fared better Xiaowei Xu, a senior research economist at the IFS and an author of the paper, said: "Women and young people are most likely to have suffered persistently bad deteriorations.