2025 Hanke’s Annual Misery Index Highlights Economic Stability in Southeast Asia
Professor Steve Hanke’s index measures economic strain through inflation, unemployment, lending rates, and GDP growth
Quick Look
The 2025 Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI) reveals that several Southeast Asian nations are experiencing reduced economic strain due to low inflation, steady employment, and income growth.
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The 2025 Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI), compiled by applied economics professor Steve Hanke, measures the “economic temperature” of a country and seeks to approximate how its average citizen experiences the economy.
This year’s HAMI found that several Southeast Asian economies had a combination of low inflation, steady employment, manageable borrowing costs and income growth – leaving households feeling less economic strain.
“Think of HAMI as a thermometer pressed against the body of the economy,” Hanke said.
The index looks at four attributes, adding unemployment, inflation and bank-lending rates then subtracting the growth rate of real gross domestic product.
