This is officially the happiest place to live in the UK

According to an annual survey, people are happier in Northern Ireland than anywhere else across the British Isles.

There might be a reason for that Irish charm after all – according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics, Northern Ireland is officially the happiest place to live in the UK.

Responding on a scale of 1-10 regarding areas of personal wellbeing such as satisfaction and fulfilment, Northern Ireland came out as nearly 3% higher in the happiness stakes than all the other countries in the UK, averaging 7.7/10.

Meanwhile, England, Wales and Scotland scored similarly with average results of 7.47, 7.44 and 7.43 respectively.

However, the results were less positive for Londoners who reported below average ratings when it comes to life satisfaction, anxiety and fulfilment compared to the rest of the UK.

‘We have seen personal well-being improving on a UK-wide basis over the past five years,’ says Dawn Snape, assistant deputy director for Quality of Life at the ONS.

‘But today's data paints a richer picture, enabling people to explore what's been happening in their local area. This will help individuals, communities and local authorities to look at well-being locally alongside other traditional measures of progress.’

It’s not all good news though. According to the results, there hasn’t been any improvement in our levels of happiness over the 12 months from March 2015 – 2016. Still, let’s look on the positive side – at least they aren’t getting worse, hey? Although maybe we need to wait and see the post-Brexit results next year before we start using that logic...

Want to see the full list of Britain’s happiest places? Here are the fifteen happiest areas to live in the UK:

1. Na h-Eileanan Siar, Outer Hebrides, Scotland: 8.24
2. Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland: 8.21
3. Newark and Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, England: 8.11
4. Purbeck, Dorset, England: 8.06
5. Orkney Islands, Scotland: 8.05
6. Winchester, Hampshire, England: 8.04
7. Fylde, Lancashire, England: 8.03
8. Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland: 8.03
9. Lichfield, Staffordshire, England: 8.01
10. Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland: 7.97
11. Wychavon, Worchestershire, England: 7.96
12. Castle Point, Essex, England: 7.96
13. Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England: 7.95
14. Guildford, Surrey, England: 7.95
15. Amber Valley, Derbyshire, England: 7.93