G.A. Viray
Filipinos are known to be one of the happiest people in the world. A recent study reveals the reason why.
Cato Institute, a public policy research organization conducted a study among 108 countries and measured their “Misery Index”. These countries submitted a satisfactory data for 2014.
Some of the measures used for the study were inflation, unemployment and lending rates, and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
Based on the study, the 10 most miserable countries are (1) Venezuela, (2) Argentina, (3) Syria, (4) Ukraine, (5) Iran, (6) Brazil, (7) Sao Tome and Principe, (8) Serbia, (9), Jamaica, and (10) South Africa.
The major contributing factor for the most miserable country, Venezuela, is their consumer prices. According to Trading Economics, their Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at its highest at 790.50 last November 2014 from an average of 63.07. CPI measures the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care. CPI measures the changes in these prices.
Photo Credit: Indiana Public Media
On the other hand, the ten least miserable countries are (1) Brunei, (2) Switzerland, (3) China, (4) Taiwan, (5) Japan, (6) South Korea, (7) Norway, (8) Malaysia, (9) Singapore and (10) Germany. With the interest rates being the major contributing factor for Brunei’s misery.
.jpg)
Photo Credit: Asean Tourism Travel
The Philippines actually ranks at 80 which makes it the 28th least miserable country worldwide. Unemployment is the major contributing factor which was at 6% according to Trading Economics during the last quarter of 2014. This is actually the lowest record to date. Well, this is a, according to the study, the reason why Filipinos are not so much miserable. However, the highest CPI was also recorded last October 2014 at 141 points, this is actually pretty high. Moreover, there are still a lot of factors that should be considered. With only 108 countries participating in the study, Filipinos may be more miserable than what this study shows. On a lighter note, it is good to know that the Philippines did not make it to the top ten of the worst, and this is actually a bit of good news for us this year. So, do you agree that the Philippines is really not that miserable? Leave your comment below.
Photo Credit: GMA News
To view the study of the World Misery Index, please click here.
consider high crime rate,poor tranportation system,country’s foreign debts,unsatisfactory governance and corruption,stupid law makers,insurgencies etc. add miseries to all Filipinos.