Taiwan is the least miserable out of 178 world economies according to the 2025 Hanke Misery Index published earlier in April by Fortune Magazine. The annual ranking is compiled by Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at The Johns Hopkins University.

The index takes into account an economy’s year-end unemployment, inflation and bank-lending rates as well as real per-capita GDP growth. Taiwan scored 2.1, the lowest in the world, with the index median at 21.85 and with an average of 31.64.

Venezuela, Sudan, Turkey, Iran, Argentina, Eswatini, South Africa, Malawi, Madagascar and Lebanon had the highest Misery Index scores in 2025, while Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Macau, Japan, Qatar, Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau scored the lowest.