Reasons for unhappiness across the developed world included a lack of optimism, concern over jobs and pressure to succeed.
In developing countries a majority in the same age group expected their lives to be more enjoyable in the future, led by China with 84 percent.
"The happier young people of the developing world are also the most religious," the survey said.
The MTVNI survey took six months to complete and resulted in the Wellbeing Index, which compared the feelings of young people, based on their perceptions of how they feel about safety, where they fit into society and how they see their future.
Young people from Argentina and South Africa came joint top in the list of how happy they were at 75 percent.
The overall Wellbeing Index was more mixed between rich and poor. India came top followed by Sweden and Brazil came last.
"In developing countries, economic growth is on the go ... so you could see that logically there should be optimism and a positive feeling," Bill Roedy, the President of MTVNI, told Reuters.
Developed countries were particularly pessimistic about globalisation, with 95 percent of young Germans thinking it is ruining their culture, while developing countries, which tended to be more receptive to globalisation were also more optimistic about their economic future and more proud of their nationality.
MTVNI said one of the trends they spotted was that young people with access to mass media tended to feel less safe as they did not have the cognitive skills to interpret real risk.
In the UK, more than 80 percent of 16- to 34-year-olds said they were as afraid of terrorism as they were of the getting cancer -- though the latter was far more likely to hurt them.
The 14 countries included in the survey were Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and the U.S.
Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
