Canada in sixth place among world's most miserable developed countries

Canada has yet again made it onto a list of the world’s most miserable countries, and this time, things are looking worse than before.

Not only is the country on the Misery Index — but it ranks pretty high at number six out of 35 industrialized countries.

The Misery Index was initially created by American economist Arthur Melvin Okun, and serves as an analytical measure of how “miserable” a developed country is. The factors under consideration are the country’s inflation rates and employment rates.

IMF

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Canada was also featured in the 2020 Misery Index, but a new Fraser Institute report, titled Return of the Misery Index, notes that the increase in misery levels was “purely a result of the higher unemployment brought about by the COVID-induced recession.”

The forecast is not looking great; not only did Canada see an increase in misery this year, but Fraser Institute warns that things are projected to get worse. This time, it blames “stubbornly higher unemployment and a marked increase in inflation.”

The report comes with another grim reminder; of the 35 industrialized countries under consideration, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast Canada to have the fourth highest inflation rate in 2021.

IMF

Things are even bleaker when you look at the unemployment rate in Canada. The country stands at a distressing third place, beating everyone but Greece and Spain, who have much direr unemployment rates.

IMF

“Such results should prompt much greater interest in both inflation and unemployment — and policies that can respond to both — by governments, particularly the federal government,” the report concludes.

In May last year, McDonald Laurier released a provincial COVID-19 misery index for Canada, calculated using 11 key pandemic-related metrics.

Alberta topped the list as the most unhappy province nationwide, while Ontario, Quebec, and BC ranked second, third, and fourth, respectively.