BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) -- More elderly Chinese are saying they live a happy life, according to a survey on the living conditions of China's urban and rural older persons, published Tuesday.

A total of 222,700 Chinese aged 60 and above from across the country answered the survey, according to the report compiled by China Research Center on Aging.

The survey has been conducted every five years since 2000 by the China National Committee on Aging, the latest of which was done in 2015.

A total of 60.9 percent of elderly people said they felt happy in 2015, up from 48.8 percent in 2000, according to the report.

Male elderly people were happier than their female counterparts while urban elderly people were happier than their rural counterparts.

Senior people with higher education were happier than those less educated. About 52.1 percent of uneducated old people said they were happy while 84 percent of those having gone to college said they were happy.

The survey also showed that when people grew older they tended to be less happy. In the age group from 60 to 64, about 62.3 percent of the surveyed said they were happy, while the figure dropped to 55.7 percent in the age group of 85 and above.

The percentage of people who said they were not happy was 5.8 percent for people aged 60 to 64, and 7.6 percent for those aged 85 and above.

Happiness in old age was also linked to people's marital status, relationships with children, health and financial situation.