The country was ranked 132th in the second edition of the report published in 2015.

Denmark topped the ranking while Switzerland bagged the second place in the 2016 report.

The World Happiness Report reviews the state of happiness in the world today and shows how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness.

GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption are among factors that considers when preparing the report.

The first report was published in 2012, the second in 2013, and the third on April 23, 2015.

In the third World Happiness Report, now encompassing 158 nations, Norway has slipped to third position while the US has gone up two positions to 13.

India is ranked 118th, down from 117th in 2015.

The report said that India was among the group of 10 countries witnessing the largest happiness declines along with Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Botswana.

India comes below nations like Somalia 76th, China 83rd, Pakistan 92nd, Iran 105th, Palestinian Territories 108th and Bangladesh 110th.

The UK is 21st, with New Zealand 9th and Australia 10th.

Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi were the least happiest countries, according to the report.

The report, released in advance of UN World Happiness Day on March 20, for the first time gives a special role to the measurement and consequences of inequality in the distribution of well-being among countries and regions.