International official statistics indicate that in 2022, Iran ranked as the eighth country in the world with the highest recorded misery index. In less than two decades, the misery index in the country has more than doubled.
In the past calendar year, the misery index for Iran reached 57, marking the highest level recorded in the country’s three-decade history. This index is only surpassed by Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Lebanon, Sudan, Turkey, Argentina, and Suriname in 2022.
However, this is not the first time that Iran has ranked high on the misery index. Analysis of data from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank shows that over the past twenty years, Iran has ranked among the top 12 countries with the highest misery index for 14 years.
The misery index is the sum of inflation and unemployment rates and has been used in political economy since the mid-1970s as a measure of economic health in countries.
Over the past two decades, the unemployment rate has not changed significantly and has remained relatively stable. However, severe inflation fluctuations have led Iran to spend approximately the past 15 years in the “most miserable” state possible.
The misery index is also one of the most common indicators in political economy to measure living standards crises. This index was first introduced by Arthur Melvin Okun, an American economist, and quickly gained attention from policymakers, including Jimmy Carter, who repeatedly referred to this index during the 1976 US presidential campaign and eventually reached the White House presidency.
In Iran, during the 2009 presidential election campaign, former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaee referred to the misery index during a televised debate with his electoral rival and then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which brought this economic indicator into the public discourse.
Currently, the misery index in the country has more than doubled the level in 2009.
Political problems that exacerbate economic misery
In their debates, the candidates of the regime’s sham presidential election revealed new aspects of economic corruption in the government and only added to the people’s hatred of the regime. While the candidates were trying to show sympathy with the people by laying the blame for their problems on other regime factions and officials, in effect, what they said only made things worse for the regime in its entirety.
In a June 7 report, the Eghtesadepooya website quoted MP Dariush Qanbari as saying, “The problem is poverty, not the political factions. Currently, in the economic field, the most important thing is to eliminate unemployment and curb inflation… The reformists have lost their base because the reformists were mainly elites and the elites were supporting this faction, but now even the elites do not support this faction.”
“Despair and disappointment have caused people to ignore the promises of the candidates and not care about them. Therefore, instead of hollow promises, it is better to offer a suitable solution. Iran’s economy is shrinking daily, and investment and production are at a minimum,” he added.
The fact is that the regime has sped past other despotic regimes in the index of economic and political misery.
The people of Iran are settling for nothing less than regime change, and they don’t care who will be running for president. The Iranian people are preparing for the final confrontation with the regime.
