Beauty Contest

Zimbabwe is world’s most miserable country, economist’s index claims

By David Whitehouse

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Posted on May 29, 2023 04:00

People walk past a money-changers sign at a market in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 26, 2020. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

The competition is stiff in a post-Covid world of inflation and supply chain disruptions, but there is a clear winner for the title of the planet’s most miserable country, according to an index published by US economist Steve Hanke.

The 2022 version of Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI) published this month ranks Zimbabwe as the world’s most unhappy place. The index is the sum of the year-end unemployment (multiplied by two), inflation, and bank-lending rates. These are all “bad” factors which create misery.

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