Bloombergʼs Misery Index for this year, which helps determine how the average citizen is doing economically by combining countriesʼ inflation and unemployment outlooks for 2017, aims to show the impact of 2016’s “political shocks” on this year’s economy.

Hungary’s Misery Index for 2016 was 5.6, while a score of 6.9 is projected for this year.

The Hungarian daily observes that if the Misery Index shows positive trends, it is good news for the whole economy as consumption is the main driver. If there is purchasing power, the national economy can be boosted both on domestic and export markets, hvg.hu added.

For the third year in a row, Venezuela was found to be the most miserable, while the least miserable country is once again Thailand - although bloomberg.com notes that the latter is in large part due to its unique way of calculating employment.

Bloomberg also noted that a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe deteriorated in the ranking. Poland saw the biggest negative climb, moving to 28 from a rank of 45 in last yearʼs index. Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia also saw significant jumps in their Misery Index rankings.

Source: BBJ

Republished with permission