Zimbabwe is the world’s most miserable country, trumping Venezuela, Cuba and war-torn Syria.
That’s according to an annual “misery index,” which ranks nearly 160 countries on factors such as unemployment, inflation, and bank lending rates.
The African country, home to around 16 million people, has now been ranked among the top five gloomiest countries for the third consecutive year.
Robert Mugabe’s brutal rule over Zimbabwe left his country an international outsider, mired in corruption, violence and an economic crisis that plunged tens of thousands into abject poverty.
Although the late ex-president was ousted in 2017, the resource-rich country is still suffering the economic fallout of his 37-year rule.
Behind Zimbabwe in Hanke’s annual misery index are Venezuela, also plagued by “economic mismanagement,” and Syria, which has been mired in a horrific civil war for more than a decade.
Zimbabwe, home to around 16 million people, has been beset by decades of soaring living costs and controversial former President Robert Mugabe, whose 37-year tenure was marred by corruption and violence. Under Mugabe and his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa (right), Zimbabwe suffered two episodes of hyperinflation – when prices rose by 50 percent or more each month
The UK is faring worse than last year – moving up the scale from 153rd to 129th.
Professor Steve Hanke, the economist behind the rankings, claimed inflation, which stood at 10.1 percent in March, was a “significant factor”.
Although currently trending downwards, it triggered the biggest rise in food prices since 1977, adding £800 to the annual bill of the average household.
But the US moved up in the other direction, from 102nd to 134th place.
Unemployment was the biggest contributor: In April, just 3.4 percent of Americans (5.7 million) were unemployed — the lowest level in decades.
Ukraine, currently defending its country in a violent and bloody war started by Vladimir Putin’s invading Russian forces, came in eighth place, with Professor Hanke citing unemployment.
Local media reports that the war has tripled the unemployment rate to 35 percent, equivalent to 5.2 million unemployed. The figure is based on a report by the National Bank of Ukraine.
The misery ranking is based on an algorithm that gives each country a score based on unemployment, inflation, interest rates and GDP growth. Other key figures such as population surveys or the state of health are not taken into account.
Values are the sum of unemployment (multiplied by two), inflation and bank lending rates minus the annual percentage change in real GDP per capita.
Last year’s most miserable country, Cuba, which suffered from rapid inflation in 2021 fueled by the value of its currency, the peso, falling 95 percent this year alone, now sits in ninth place, just behind Ukraine.
Argentina was ranked as the sixth weakest country. The country is also grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, with inflation exceeding 100 percent in February for the first time since the 1990s.
As a result, many live in poverty. Last summer, the country saw three different economics ministers take to the streets to protest the situation within just four weeks.
Meanwhile, Switzerland remained at the bottom.
Professor Hanke said one of the main factors behind Zimbabwe’s “worst” ranking was the political party, which rules with an “iron grip”. Allegations of vote-rigging and election-related violence have surfaced over the past three decades.
And under Mugabe and his successor as President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the country suffered two episodes of hyperinflation – when prices rose 50 percent or more month-on-month.
The declining value of his currency led to shocking scenes of people filling buckets with cash just to buy a loaf of bread.
He said: “With elections just around the corner, [opposition leader] “Nelson Chamisa and his Citizens Coalition for Change have done well in the polls and assuming there will be fair and free elections in Zimbabwe, maybe he could pull Zimbabwe out of the gutter.”
Popular with the young and unemployed, Chamisa has promised to solve the country’s economic distress.
In addition to Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Syria, Lebanon and Sudan are also among the most miserable countries.
Venezuela has suffered two episodes of hyperinflation under President Nicolas Maduro, who has now been in office for ten years.
Professor Hanke said: “Since Maduro came to power in 2013, oil production at his state-owned oil company PDVSA has also plummeted by 76 percent.”
The country has the largest oil resources in the world and derives almost all of its income from industry. It also faced US sanctions restricting its access to foreign currency. As a result, there are high rates of extreme poverty.
“No wonder more than 7 million Venezuelans have fled their homes since 2015. They are miserable,” said Professor Hanke.
Not surprisingly, Switzerland is at the bottom of the misery.
The central European country is one of the richest in the world and ranks among the best in terms of life expectancy, education time and average salaries, according to the latest UN Human Development Index.
Behind the European country at the bottom of the league follow Kuwait, Ireland, Japan and Malaysia.