U.S. Fortune magazine has released the 2025 Hanke Annual Misery Index (HAMI), ranking 178 countries worldwide. Venezuela overwhelmingly ranked as the world’s most miserable economy, while Taiwan, with a score of just 2.1, was named the world’s happiest economy for the second consecutive year.
The index was compiled by Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. Known as the “money doctor” for his long career advising governments on economic policy, Hanke measures a country’s level of economic “misery” using unemployment, inflation, lending rates, and economic growth data.
Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI) is calculated as follows: unemployment rate multiplied by two, plus inflation rate and bank lending rate, minus real GDP per capita growth. In 2025, the global median score was 21.85, with an average of 31.64.
Venezuela’s economic collapse pushes misery index to new high
The 2025 rankings show the world’s ten most miserable economies, in order, as Venezuela, Sudan, Turkey, Iran, Argentina, Eswatini, South Africa, Malawi, Madagascar, and Lebanon.
Venezuela topped the list with an extraordinary score of 556.49, far surpassing all other countries and worsening significantly from the previous year. According to the report, Nicolás Maduro’s regime stole the July 2024 presidential election and violently suppressed democratic opposition, triggering a new wave of international sanctions that cut off oil revenues and caused severe devaluation of the bolívar, further deepening the economic crisis.
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In 2025, Venezuela’s inflation rate soared to 475.3 percent, unemployment climbed to 35.1 percent, and real GDP per capita contracted, causing widespread deterioration across all economic indicators.
Taiwan shines as the world’s happiest economy again
In the happiest economies ranking, the top ten were Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Ireland, Côte d’Ivoire, Macau, Japan, Qatar, Burkina Faso, and Guinea-Bissau.
Taiwan reclaimed first place with the world’s lowest misery score of 2.1, largely due to strong economic growth. The report noted that sustained global demand for semiconductors and AI hardware drove Taiwan’s real GDP per capita growth to 9.2 percent. Meanwhile, unemployment remained low at 3.3 percent, inflation was just 1.3 percent, and lending rates were approximately 3.3 percent, creating a highly stable economic environment.
Ireland also posted an impressive performance, climbing 54 positions to become the world’s fourth happiest economy. Its real GDP per capita growth reached 11.2 percent, fueled by multinational corporate investment and Ireland’s role as a European hub for technology and pharmaceutical industries.
Overall, Hanke’s Misery Index highlights growing global economic polarization: some countries are burdened by severe inflation, unemployment, and political instability, while others leverage industrial advantages and stable policy frameworks to maintain low inflation and strong growth, demonstrating remarkable resilience.
By Li Ming
