The 2022 Annual Poverty Index was released, a report developed by the economist and Johns Hopkins University professor Steve Hanke, who lists the worst countries in the world in terms of economic.
In the list, which contains 157 countries and is led by Zimbabwe, some countries that were once economically stable appear in the first positions, as is the case of Venezuela, which was in second place, and Argentina, which is the sixth placed.
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Both countries are governed by political groups that have controversial economic ideologies. In the case of Venezuela, specialists in foreign policy warn of the implantation of a dictatorship.
On the other hand, Brazil appears only in the 27th position, while other South American neighbors distanced themselves even more from the infamous top of the list, such as Paraguay (46th), Chile (67th), Bolivia (122nd) and Ecuador (130th).
This is the top 20 most miserable countries in the world in 2022:
- Zimbabwe
- Venezuela
- Syria
- Lebanon
- Sudan
- Argentina
- Yemen
- Ukraine
- Cuba
- Türkiye
- Sri Lanka
- Haiti
- Angola
- Tonga
- Ghana
- South Africa
- Suriname
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Will
- Rwanda
The methodology behind the report
To develop the Annual Poverty Index, Steve Hanke and his team are based on an average involving indices such as unemployment, inflation, interest rates and GDP.
According to Hanke, in the case of Zimbabwe, the African country that leads the 2022 ranking, widespread misery has roots in the country's policy, which is, according to him, “disastrous”.
Other members at the top of the list, such as Syria (3rd) and Ukraine (8th), have the war that devastates their territories as the main vector of misery.
“We should expect a country that has been involved in civil war for over 12 years not to have happiness,” said Steve Hanke, speaking about Syria.
Still according to the economist, the only way to make these countries considered miserable get out of this situation is to warm up their economies, so that the indicators improve, raising the living conditions of the population.
The other side of the coin
In a dismal list like the Annual Poverty Index, being at the bottom is a huge plus. With that, the “champion” is Switzerland, placed last in the ranking.
According to Steve Hanke, the success of the European country is a result of its strict fiscal control, with stabilization of the debt/GDP ratio and the cut of interest rates for borrowing, for example.
For these reasons, the Swiss economy, which is considered small, has become strong and important over the years.
Some other members of the “happy” part of the Annual Poverty Index are Kuwait (156th), Ireland (155th), Japan (154th) and Malaysia (153rd).
The United States and China, currently the two richest countries in the world, were a little far from the bottom of the list, occupying the 134th and 142nd positions, respectively.
Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of acting professionally as a Content Writer for the Web, writing articles in different niches and different formats.
