12. Lesotho

Lesotho

 

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Misery index score: 51.1

CPI inflation: 6.1%
Unemployment: 45%
Lesotho has the third-highest GINI coefficient in the world, which means that income inequality is particularly high here. Growth is expected to increase due to major infrastructure projects, but weak manufacturing and agriculture sectors are a drag on the economy. Rampant unemployment is also a big problem.


Source: CIA Factbook

13. Kenya

Kenya

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Misery index score: 50.1
CPI inflation: 10.1% Unemployment: 40%
Kenya's economy is held back by corruption and its reliance on a few specific primary goods on which prices have remained low. Unemployment has historically been very high and remains so. However, oil was discovered in Kenya in March 2012, which might help revive its sagging economy.


Source: CIA Factbook

 

14. Senegal

Senegal

Misery index score: 49.5
CPI inflation: 1.5%
Unemployment: 48%
Despite receiving a lot of foreign aid, Senegal suffers from an unreliable power supply, which has led to public protests and is in part the cause of high unemployment.

Source: CIA Factbook

 

 

15. Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

Misery index score: 48.9
CPI inflation: 12.9%
Unemployment: 36%
The best thing the local economy has going for it is assistance from the U.S. government. Tourism is its best hope for economic growth, but currently it employs only 10 percent of the labor force. Government downsizing, drought, a drop in construction, the decline in tourism, and less income from the renewal of fishing vessel licenses have been a drag on the economy.

Source: CIA Factbook

 

16. Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Geoffrey Ingersoll — BI

Misery index score: 48.8
CPI inflation: 13.8%
Unemployment: 35%
Afghanistan is still recovering from decades of conflict and has to deal with high levels of corruption, weak government capacity, and poor public infrastructure. Foreign aid, agriculture, and a growing service sector industry are helping the country recover, but it still suffers from high inflation and unemployment.

Source: CIA Factbook

 

17. Swaziland

Swaziland

Swaziland landscape

Wikimedia Commons

Misery index score: 48.4
CPI inflation: 8.4%
Unemployment: 40%
Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa — that's where 60 percent of its exports go and 90 percent of its imports come from. The global economic crisis hit Swaziland exports hard and declining revenue has pushed the country into fiscal crisis. The local currency is pegged to the South African rand, so inflation isn't too bad, but the country suffers from high unemployment.

Source: CIA Factbook

 

18. Haiti

Haiti

Wikipedia

Misery index score: 46.5
CPI inflation: 5.9%
Unemployment: 40.6%
Even before the earthquake in 2010, 80 percent of the Haitian population lived below the poverty line and 54 percent in abject poverty. A large section of the population has poor access to education. The country is still recovering from the effects of the earthquake and also has to deal with rampant corruption.

Source: CIA Factbook