Strangers are about twice as kind as people think, a study looking at happiness across the globe suggests.

This year’s World Happiness Report – released on Thursday – measured trust in strangers by deliberately losing wallets, seeing how many were returned and comparing that with how many people thought would be handed in.

The rate of wallets returned was almost twice as high as people predicted and the study, which gathered evidence from around the world, found belief in the kindness of others was more closely tied to happiness than previously thought.

The report ranked Finland as the world’s happiest country for the eighth year running, with the US and UK slipping down the list.