The famous adage, "Money can buy happiness" proves to be true in some aspects not only to first world countries, but also to developing ones, such as China, Malaysia and Indonesia, an international research agency reported.

A global survey conducted by Pew Research Center released Friday showed levels of happiness in residents from developing countries rival those in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. It added that increasing national income contributed largely to personal satisfaction.

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Respondents from 43 countries were asked to determine their position on the so-called "ladder of life", where the top represents the highest quality of life and the bottom the worst. Pew conducted the same study in 2002 and 2005 providing groundbreaking trends in the relationship of money and happiness of people living in various economies through the years.

While a significant number of the respondents with a higher consumer spending capability rated higher in the "ladder of life", results showed that money does not absolutely equate to happiness.

In Malaysia, 56 percent of the respondents rated themselves "seven", higher than 36 percent from Bangladesh, a relatively poor country. Germany, which has the highest gross domestic product per capita, has 60 percent of its people satisfied in their quality of life.

The research showed that women tend to be happier than men. On the other hand, unmarried and middle-aged respondents rated lower levels of satisfaction than their married and younger counterparts.

The Pew survey is based on 47,643 interviews of adults aged 18 and above in 43 countries conducted between March and June 2014. The study also revealed that people living in emerging economies possess different priorities such as health, education and safety. The same cluster of respondents added that car ownership, internet access and travelling do not fall within their immediate needs.

Overall, the survey recorded significant growth in the number of satisfied or happy individuals in Indonesia (58 percent) from 23 percent in 2007. Malaysians are also more satisfied by 20 points from 36 percent in the last seven years, and Vietnam with 64 percent.

TagsPew Research Center, happiness meter, money buys happiness