Sorry to be grumpy about this, but for the ninth straight year Finland has been named the world’s happiest country.

Moreover, that whole group of irritatingly happy Nordic nations collectively dominated the rankings again, with Iceland at #2, Denmark #3, Sweden #5 and Norway #6. Only Costa Rica at #4 cracks the Nordic monopoly on happiness.

None of the native English-speaking countries — the US, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, Canada or the UK — appear in the top 10.

Somehow, though, New Zealand comes in at #11. I think the NZ sample was 10 households in Havelock Hills.

Really, do you know that many happy Kiwis these days?!

Most of us seem to be angry about, frustrated with or suffering from high prices, governmental malperformance (at all levels), a family health problem, or our children abandoning HB for brighter prospects elsewhere.

Indeed, taking a bit of the shine off NZ’s already dubious #11 ranking is the finding that life evaluations among respondents under age 25 in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have dropped by almost one full point on the scale of 0 to 10 over the last decade, while the average satisfaction for young people in the rest of the world has increased, according to Gallup World Poll data. The Report names inappropriate social media use as the culprit for this cohort.

Where do these rankings come from?

The Gallup World Poll asks respondents in 147 countries to evaluate their lives using the image of a ladder, with the best possible life as a 10 and the worst possible as a 0.* Each respondent provides a numerical response on this scale, referred to as the Cantril Ladder. The Finns rank themselves 7.764. NZ scores 6.995. The results are compiled by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.

Explaining the Finns score, the founding editor of the World Happiness Report, Professor John Helliwell cites their deep commitment to cooperation. “Successful societies cooperate in the face of adversity. The Finns know this. And once you have the sense that you are in this together, there’s no end to what you can do,” he says.

Giving a basic example, he suggests thinking about the best place to lose your wallet. It’s Finland. “Everyone loves to live where they expect to have their wallet returned full,” he explained to CNN.

In case you’re thinking of relocating, the most unhappy country is Afghanistan at #147, with a score of 1.446.

Here’s the survey question that drives the rankings:

Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?

Apart from the rankings, a variety of experts analyse key social and attitudinal data from the Gallup World Poll to help explain the results. You can check out the World Happiness Report here.