To say the past year has been a difficult one for people across the globe is something of an understatement.

Not only has the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the deaths of over 2.6 million people worldwide, it's also led to a massive shake up in everyday life for many of us.

But despite the devastating events of the last 12 months and the resulting decline in mental health in a number of destinations, there's been no change at the top spot when it comes to ranking the happiest country in the world.

For the fourth year running, Finland has come out on top in the annual list powered by data from the Gallup World Poll, with Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands following in second, third, fourth and fifth position respectively.

While the United States moved up from 18th to 14th place and the United Kingdom dropped from 13th to 18th, Australia held its 12th place position.

"We need urgently to learn from Covid-19," said report co-editor Jeffrey Sachs, professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University.

"The pandemic reminds us of our global environmental threats, the urgent need to cooperate, and the difficulties of achieving cooperation in each country and globally."

It's worth noting that the World Happiness Report 2021 has been collated slightly differently this time round due to coronavirus.

Not only were researchers unable to complete face-to-face interviews in a number of countries, they also had to switch things up entirely by focusing on the relationship between wellbeing and Covid-19.

The report has been primarily based on levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and corruption income since it launched in 2012.

Although there have been some changes in the top 10, with Iceland rising two places from fourth to second on the list and Norway dropping from fifth to eighth place, the rankings were strikingly similar to the previous year for the most part, which is viewed as a positive sign.

"Surprisingly there was not, on average, a decline in wellbeing when measured by people's own evaluation of their lives," said the University of British Columbia's professor John Helliwell, who also contributed to the report.

"One possible explanation is that people see Covid-19 as a common, outside threat affecting everybody and that this has generated a greater sense of solidarity and fellow-feeling."

Other notable movements on the list include Germany, which has jumped from 17th to seventh place in the last year.

Croatia, which was among the destinations where face-to-face interviews were able to take place, rose from number 79 to 23 on the list.