12. Lesotho

Lesotho

 

Getty Images

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

All rights are to Nuru International.

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

19. Yemen

Yemen

Protesters climb a fence surrounding the U.S. embassy in Sanaa September 13, 2012.

Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Reuters

Misery index score: 46.4
CPI inflation: 11.4%
Unemployment: 35%
Heavily dependent on declining oil resources, 25 percent of Yemen's GDP comes from petroleum. The country's GDP fell by more than 10 percent in 2011, but this decline slowed to 1.9 percent in 2012. The government is trying to diversify the economy, but has to deal with declining water resources, high unemployment, and a high population growth rate.

Source: CIA Factbook

 

20. Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

ap

Misery index score: 45.5
CPI inflation: 2.2%
Unemployment: 43.3%
Inter-ethnic warfare between 1992 and 1995 caused unemployment to soar and production to plummet by 80 percent, and the country hasn't quite recovered since. The local currency is pegged to the euro, which keeps inflation in check. In 2011, a parliamentary deadlock left Bosnia without a state-level government for over a year, which caused the IMF to stop disbursing aid.
Source: CIA Factbook

21. Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

Adel Hana / Associated Press

Misery index score: 43.5
CPI inflation: 3.5%
Unemployment: 40%
Ever since Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007, Israeli-imposed border closures have led to the deterioration of an already weak economy — more unemployment, elevated poverty rates and a sharp contraction of the private sector which relied primarily on exports.

Source: CIA Factbook

22. Maldives

Maldives

Water Studio Projects

Misery index score: 40.8
CPI inflation: 12.8%
Unemployment: 28%
It's a lovely place to vacation, and a good thing, too — tourism accounts for 30 percent of Maldives' GDP and more than 60 percent of foreign exchange receipts. However, recent drops in tourism and heavy government spending have taken a toll on the local economy, causing high inflation and an unemployment rate that's nearly doubled since 2010.

Source: CIA Factbook

 

23. Iran

Iran

flikr/[CDS] SoHo

Misery index score: 39.1
CPI inflation: 23.6%
Unemployment: 15.5%
Price controls, subsidies, and other rigidities undermine private sector growth and are proving to be a real drag on the economy, as is a rapidly-depreciating currency. This leads to rampant corruption and illegal business activities abound. The economy is also heavily dependent on oil and has suffered from international sanctions. Unemployment persists at double-digit levels.

Source: CIA Factbook

 

24. Mauritania

Mauritania

Oxfam International on flickr

Misery index score: 37
CPI inflation: 7%
Unemployment: 30%
Half of the population is still dependent on agriculture and livestock to earn a living, and poverty is rampant. The local economy depends heavily on commodities exports, mostly of iron ore. These exports are nearly the sole reason the Mauritanian economy grew five percent last year.
Source: CIA Factbook

25. Mali

Mali

Flickr/ravpix

Misery index score: 36.5
CPI inflation: 6.5%
Unemployment: 30%
One of the poorest countries in the world, Mali relies on gold mining and agricultural exports for revenue, which is why the country's fiscal status depends on gold and food prices. About 10 percent of the population is nomadic and about 80 percent of the working labor force is engaged in farming and fishing.
Source: CIA Factbook