Suffolk has trumped Norfolk in the wellbeing stakes as new figures show the county is more satisfied with life than the average UK citizen.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that people in Suffolk were more satisfied and felt life was more worthwhile than those in Norfolk and were also less anxious than their northern neighbour.

Within Suffolk people living in Ipswich were the happiest and those living in the Mid Suffolk district believed life was the most worthwhile, while respondents to the ONS survey in Forest Heath recorded the highest life satisfaction score across Suffolk.

However the figures showed that people living in the Suffolk Coastal district were most anxious, with scores coming in higher than the average across the UK.

However Essex scored lower than the national average in satisfaction, worthwhile and happiness measures, but proved to be less anxious overall.

Lucy Tinkler, statistician at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), said: “Generally people in Norfolk and Suffolk have higher wellbeing than the UK. “The only thing is that Norfolk has slightly higher than average anxiety.

“But on all the other measures they are higher than average.”

She said that the ONS was working closely with the cabinet office, which had set up the social impact taskforce to ensure policy takes account for people’s wellbeing.

The Department for Communities and Local Government and local authorities will be judged on how their areas are performing.

People who live in Reading, Slough, Milton Keynes and Brighton are among the most anxious in the country, the ONS data showed.

And Londoners themselves are also tightly wound up - with more than one in five (22.4%) reporting high anxiety levels.

The new ONS data on personal well-being also highlights that people living in Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands have the lowest levels of self-worth and life satisfaction.