Fishermen spend time with their family during a break at the fisherfolks community in Barangay Alima Bacoor, Cavite on May 31, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA- Nearly half of Filipinos are "very happy" with their lives in general, results of a Social Weather Survey (SWS) released Monday showed.

Asked to rate their happiness or unhappiness, 44 percent of 1,440 respondents in the March 28 to 31 poll said they were "very happy" with their life in general, a 5-point increase from 39 percent 3 months prior.

Forty-nine percent meanwhile said they are "fairly happy" while 8 percent said they were generally "unhappy."

Muslims accounted for the most respondents who claimed to be "very happy" at 66 percent, followed by Christian denominations at 50 percent, Catholics at 42 percent, and Iglesia ni Cristo members at 39 percent.

Unhappiness was highest among other Christian denominations and Catholics at 8 percent each. It was lowest among Muslims 2 percent, according to the survey.

The higher "very happy" score was due to increases in scores in several parts of the country, particularly in Mindanao and Visayas, SWS said.

The Philippines was ranked the 69th happiest country in the world this year by the United Nations.

SATISFACTION

The March survey also found that 37 percent of Filipinos were"very satisfied" with the lives they lead, a 3-point increase from the 34 percent in December last year.

More Filipinos said they were "fairly satisfied" with the lives they lead at 53 percent, while 11 percent were unsatisfied.

Satisfaction with the lives they lead was highest among Muslims at 63 percent and college graduates at 56 percent.

Dissatisfaction with life meanwhile was highest among other Christians at 15 percent, and elementary graduates at 10 percent.

The March 2019 survey was conducted from March 28-31, 2019 using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults nationwide. It has a sampling error margin of ±2.6 percent for national percentages, and ±5 percent each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.