Morocco ranks 56th most miserable country in the world, says a report

Morocco ranked 56th globally out of 157 countries on the 2023 Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI), scoring 33.5.

This represents a 12-point improvement from the 2022 edition, where Morocco was classified as 68th on the Misery Index, receiving a score of 36.565 instead.

HAMI, designed by Economist Steve H. Hanke, measures the economic well-being of citizens from different countries, considering unemployment rates, inflation, bank lending rates, and economic growth or GDP per capita change.

The 2023 edition emphasized that unemployment is the major contributing factor to Morocco’s backward ranking, similar to the findings of the 2022 HAMI edition.

The report showcased that Morocco seems to be the healthiest North African country, as Sudan ranks first, followed by Egypt in the 18th position due to inflation.

Meanwhile, unemployment rates led Algeria to secure the 36th place in the global ranking, followed by Tunisia in the 38th place, and Libya in the 45th place.

On the Arab level, the 2023 HAMI placed Lebanon as the most miserable country due to the inflation rate, followed by Syria and Sudan, respectively, for the same reason. Yemen trailed behind them due to the unemployment rate.

On a global level, Argentina ranked 1st as the world’s most miserable country due to inflation, having been classified 6th in the previous edition, with Venezuela ranking second for the same reason.

The report observed that the 20 most miserable countries in 2023 largely stayed the same as those in 2022, with minor alterations.

16 out of the 20 most miserable countries remained unchanged, while Cuba, Sri Lanka, Ghana, and Rwanda were replaced by Pakistan, Malawi, Myanmar, and Egypt.

On the other hand, Thailand was placed at the happy end of the 2023 HAMI distribution, followed by Japan, Switzerland, Qatar, Malta, China, and Côte d’Ivoire.