Jamaica has been ranked as the 55th most miserable country in 2022, economically speaking, according to Hanke's Annual Misery Index in a story in US conservative editorial magazine National Review.
The index is named after Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University. The index is the sum of unemployment (multiplied by two), inflation, and bank-lending rates, minus the annual percentage change in real gross domestic product per capita. This year's index ranks 157 countries, and the higher the number, the less miserable the country is regarded to be. Jamaica's ranking was impacted primarily by unemployment. The island is tied at 55th with Burundi, with the African nation's biggest issue being inflation.
Zimbabwe is the most miserable country on earth, primarily due to its inflation. Venezuela is second, with inflation also playing a major factor. Syria, Lebanon and Sudan round out the most miserable. On the other end of the scale, Switzerland is the world's happiest country, followed by Kuwait, Ireland, Japan and Malaysia. Some of Jamaica's Caribbean neighbours fared far better with Barbados ranked 83rd and Trinidad and Tobago ranked 107th.
