Greece has ranked sixth in a list of the world’s most miserable economies.
The Bloomberg Misery Index compiles inflation and unemployment outlooks for 66 economies.
The index is based on the idea that low inflation and unemployment generally illustrate how good a country’s residents should feel.
For instance, Greece might have low inflation, but unemployment is high and wages are low, making the Greek economy “miserable” according to the Bloomberg index.
For 2017, Venezuela is at the top of the list with an immeasurable Misery Index, a huge difference from the second most miserable economy, Egypt (41.7 Misery Index).
Greece is in number six in the list (22.7 Misery Index), after Argentina (36.9), South Africa (33.0) and Ukraine (23.8).
Greece’s neighbor Turkey is in seventh place (22.2), while Spain (19.2), Brazil (16.3) and Serbia (16.3) complete the top 10.
Regarding forecasts for 2018, Greece is in fifth place in a tie with Turkey with a 20.6 Misery Index.
Overall though, Bloomberg predicts that in 2018 all the worst economies will show a lower Misery Index than 2017, except for Venezuela which shows a Misery Index of 1,872.0 for 2018.
Overall, the results are slightly optimistic with economists seeing a 3.7 percent year-on-year growth for the world in 2018, matching last year’s pace that was the best since 2011, according to the Bloomberg survey median.
On the other end of the spectrum the countries with the lowest Bloomberg Misery Index face 2018 with great economic prospects. Thailand tops the list with a 1.9 Misery Index, followed by Singapore (2.8), Japan (3.3), Switzerland (3.7), Iceland (3.9), Taiwan (4.4), Israel (4.5), Denmark (4.6), Hong Kong (4.6) and China (5.5).
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