Barnet rated as the unhappiest borough in north London

Neighbouring Harrow, meanwhile, has seen the biggest rise in overall wellbeing over the past decade, together with Hackney, which bridges the north and east of the capital.

The figures come from mental health technology firm Paranimo, which conducted an analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

This looked at three categories of overall personal wellbeing: life satisfaction, the extent to which people feel the things they do are worthwhile, and happiness.

Wellbeing was measured over three categories: life satisfaction, worthwhileness and happiness (Image: Pixabay)

Each local authority was given a weighted average score for these categories.

Paranimo compared the scores for each area from April 2013 to March 2023 to see the percentage increase or decrease in overall wellbeing.

Barnet is the "saddest" north London borough, with the sharpest drop in overall wellbeing between April 2013 and March 2023.

Levels of life satisfaction dropped by 6.08 per cent, feelings of worthwhileness decreased by 3.37 per cent, and happiness fell by 7.70 per cent.

This amounted to an overall wellbeing decline of 5.72 per cent.

Oh dear.

People's average happiness in Barnet dropped by more than 7 per cent (Image: Pixabay)

On the other hand, some parts of north London are happier than they were a decade ago.

Hackney witnessed a rise of 1.28 per cent in life satisfaction, 0.55 per cent in worthwhileness and a 3.52 per cent increase in happiness.

These elements contributed to an overall wellbeing boost of 1.78 per cent over the ten-year period.

And Harrow is the happiest place in north London, with an overall wellbeing rise of 2.29 per cent.

Harrow is the happiest place in north London (Image: Pixabay)

People in the borough have experienced on average a 0.53 per cent rise in life satisfaction, a jump of 4.87 per cent in worthwhileness, and a 1.47 per cent rise in happiness.

Other north London boroughs showed a mixed picture.

While Camden had an increase of 1.53 per cent, Brent's overall wellbeing fell by 2.89 per cent, Haringey's by 3.63 per cent, Islington's by 1.93 per cent, and Westminster's by a sobering 4.18 per cent.

The analysis also revealed the happiest and saddest places in the rest of the UK.

Three Rivers, just north of Harrow in nearby Hertfordshire, was ranked the "saddest place" in the UK, with overall wellbeing falling by more than 10 per cent.

Paranimo co-founder and CEO Matthew Vamplew said: "To put these figures in perspective, the average percentage decline in overall well-being for all local authorities in the UK between April 2013 and March 2023 is a mere 0.34%."

Mr Vamplew had advice for anyone finding themselves in a bad place.

He added: "We strongly encourage anyone facing challenges to seek support, whether it be from family or friends, or ideally, a trained counselling professional.

"It’s not just on people to help themselves though, workplaces have an opportunity and responsibility to be proactive in supporting their worker’s mental health.

"Simple steps like fostering an empathetic culture, providing access to resources, and accommodating health needs can have an enormously positive impact on mental well-being for staff."