While China's economy continues to grow at a blistering pace, its people don't seem to be feeling too good about their lives.

According to Gallup's 2010 global wellbeing survey, only 12 percent of people on China's mainland judged themselves to be thriving, the same level as countries such as Afghanistan and Yemen.

The survey, released last week, classifies wellbeing as "thriving," "struggling," or "suffering," according to how people rate their current and future lives.

China's score compares with a world median of 21 percent across 124 countries and regions. The percentage ranged from a high of 72 percent in Denmark to a low of 1 percent in Chad.

Some 71 percent of people on China's mainland thought of themselves as struggling, the survey said, with 17 percent saying they were suffering.

In Hong Kong, 21 percent were thriving and 66 percent were struggling.

China has increased interest rates four times since mid-October in an attempt to rein in surging prices of property and food. Inflation accelerated to 5.4 percent last month, the fastest since 2008.

Gallup's poll contrasts with a similar survey released last year by Washington-based Pew Research Center, which showed 31 percent of Chinese happy with their lives and nearly three quarters expecting them to improve over the next five years.

In the Gallup report, 59 percent of Americans said they were thriving and 38 percent were struggling.

In 19 countries, mostly in Europe and the Americas, the majority of residents said they were thriving. People in Asia as a whole scored 17 percent.