Sudan Ranked 5th Most Miserable Country in the World

Sudan has ranked as the fifth most miserable country in the world in Steve Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI) with inflation listed as the major contributing factor, and a misery index score of 176.1.

The annual misery index ranks 157 countries on factors such as unemployment figures, inflation, bank-lending rates and change in real GDP per capita. Steve Hanke, a professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, uses data from the International Monetary Fund and international labor organisations to issue a miserable country report.

In addition to high inflation, unemployment and debt, Sudan has been struggling with recent civil unrest from a revolution in 2019 to a coup in 2021 to a war between armed forces in 2023.

On 15 April 2023, fighting broke out between army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), leaving more than 500 people dead, more than 3,000 injured and caused more than 1 million people to flee Sudan. According to UNHCR, at the beginning of June, the distribution of the newly displaced from the fighting in Khartoum included more than 169,000 to Egypt, more than 100,000 to Chad, more than 94,000 to South Sudan, more than 13,800 to Central African Republic (CAR), and more than 7,500 to Ethiopia.

Topping the 2022 ranking as the most miserable country is Zimbabwe with inflation listed as the major contributing factor and a misery index score of 414.7. The African country is followed by Venezuela (2, 330.8, inflation), Syria (3, 225.4, unemployment) and Lebanon (4, 190.336, inflation), Sudan (5, 176.1, inflation), Argentina (6, 156.192, inflation), Yemen (7, 116.2, inflation), Ukraine (8, 110.003, unemployment), Cuba (9, 102, inflation) and Turkey (10, 101.601, inflation) – the top 10 most miserable countries.

The least miserable or the happiest country is Switzerland (157, 8.518, Unemployment), followed by Kuwait (156, 8.6, unemployment), Ireland (155, 8.602, real GDP per capita growth), Japan (154, 9.071, unemployment) and Malaysia (153, 9.075, unemployment).

In another index, Happiest Countries in the World 2023, Finland is ranked at the very top. Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo and more have not been considered in the index. To see what are the world’s happiest countries, visit worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/happiest-countries-in-the-world.

Although published in 2023, the HAMI is based on 2022 studies and research. South Sudan was not considered on HAMI.

For more information on HAMI, visit www.nationalreview.com/2023/05/hankes-2022-misery-index/.