Happiness levels in the US have soared since Barack Obama was elected as President, according to statistics gathered by www.maketheworldhappy.org.

In the period leading up to Obama's historic election this week, data gathered by the site suggested that the USA had been one of the least-happy nations in the world, recording an average happiness level of just 2.93 out of 5, way below the global average of 3.46.

However since the election results were announced, happiness levels in the US have rocketed to 3.63, well ahead of the worldwide average.

Make The World Happy is a non-profit site that measures global happiness levels by asking participants around the world to register their feelings on a daily basis.

The site was only launched last month but is already revealing some interesting statistics.

In general, men appear to be happier than women, with male participants recording an average score of 3.54 out of 5 compared to the female average of 3.27.

The UK currently appears to be one of the least happy nations, with a national average of just 3.26.

That compares unfavourably with happier nations such as Australia and Brazil, which both have an average happiness of 3.7 out of 5.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Friday appears to be the happiest day of the week, although less predictable is the fact that the weekend actually sees happiness levels drop, rather than rise.

The factors that make people happiest are friends, family and relationships while money, work and the weather make people unhappy.

Project founder James Black said the statistics showed the astonishing positive effect that Obama's election has had in the US.

"We thought it would be interesting to check the figures and see whether there was a big difference before and after the election results", Black said.

"When the data came out it was much more significant than we had expected."

"It will be interesting to see whether America's new-found positivity has a knock-on effect on the rest of the world, with Britain in particular looking pretty gloomy at the moment."

* All data correct at time of writing (7th November 2008 13:00)