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The 10% inflation in rich countries of the world has drastically reduced household income. Investors suffered losses as global stock markets dropped by 15%.

But even in this poor overall performance, there are great differences: some countries have managed very well.

To assess these differences, The Economist has compiled data for five economic and financial indicators . GDP, inflation, the spread of inflation, share market performance and public debt dealt with 34 largely wealthy countries. Each economy was ranked based on its performance in each of these indicators.

For the first time in a long time, the “festival<x1 is developing in the Mediterranean. Greece tops the list compiled by The Economist. Other countries that entered the recession in the early 2010s, such as Portugal and Spain, have also resulted in a very good economic performance. But these were not the only surprises. Despite political chaos, Israel was also well ranked. Meanwhile, Germany had a poor performance, despite political stability. Finally, there are two Baltic countries -- Estonia and Latvia -- which were praised for rapid reforms in the 2010s.

The first index used was GDP, usually a country's best economic health meter. Norway, assisted by high oil prices, and Turkey, due to the annulment of sanctions from trade with Russia, has resulted better than most countries. Important role here also plays the consequences of Covid-19. As a result of very strict isolation and internal tourism collapse, most of South Europe was in a difficult position a year ago. But the region had a good year over 2022.

Ireland has also had a good year, though not as good as it can be seen by GDP. On the other hand, GDP figures in America are weaker than economic performance, as statistics find it difficult to calculate the impact of large stimulating packages.

The second measure used is to change price levels since late 2021. Unlike most of the world, some countries have had very low inflation. In Switzerland, consumer prices increased by only 3%. The central bank, backed by the strong currency, reacted quickly to price hikes earlier this year. Countries with energy sources not linked to Russia, such as Spain, which takes gas from Algeria, have also performed very well. On the other hand, countries dependent on Vladimir Putin have faced a difficult situation. In Latvia, average consumer prices have risen by 20% this year.

The third move relates to inflation. It estimates the percentage of articles in each country's inflation basket, which have had an increase in prices higher than 2% over the past year. This serves as an indication to understand how deep inflation has penetrated the economy and may therefore be an indicator of how quickly inflation will fall in 2023. Several countries with total inflation were able to limit its spread. In Italy, for example, consumer prices have increased by 11% this year, but only two-thirds of the inflation basket goods have had an inflation on the target. Inflation in Japan also appears to be eased soon. Britain, on the other hand, is in greater trouble, as the price of each category in its basket is growing rapidly.

The economic welfare of people depends not only on prices in stores but also on their stock portfolio. This has been a terrible year for these types of investments in some countries. Stock prices in Germany and South Korea have dropped by nearly 20% this year, twice as many as in America. Swedish shares have performed even worse. Yet, there are some countries that have resulted in more stable in this regard. Norway's stock market has increased compared to last year. The same can be said of Britain because of the large number of businesses that tend to perform better in difficult economic times.

The latest move concerns changing the government's net debt to GDP. In the short term, governments can cover economic difficulties by increasing spending or reducing taxes. However, this could bring increased debt and, as a result, the need to tighten fiscal policies in the future. Some governments have invested a lot to cope with the cost of living.

Germany has distributed funds totaling 7% of GDP, to help with energy bills, which means the debt ratio to GDP for this country has increased. On the other hand, several other countries have shown more restraint at fiscal spending and have intended to control their budget. Public debt in southern European countries seems to be on the decline. The Economist