List of Weak Economies

Figures show that during the last year, Iran's position has been improved in terms of two indexes of "inflation" and "economic growth". Earlier, Iran was in third place among countries with similar statistical data in terms of both indexes of inflation and economic growth. New domestic statistics and comparing these statistics with new information on the world countries indicate that in terms of economic growth index, Iran has been ranked 14 among the world's worst economies which demonstrates a relative improvement. Also in terms of inflation, Iran has changed its third place in terms of the highest rate of inflation to the fifth place; however, due to the desirable trend of monthly reduction of the inflation rate, it is expected that Iran's ranking based on this index to be improved remarkably by the end of the year. Although, a remarkable point on these lists is that there are a few countries which do not have a good situation in terms of inflation and simultaneously have very low economic growth. This issue shows that the current phenomenon of stagflation in Iran's economy has been an exception in terms of the economic history of the country and also the international experience.

Ranking Improvement in Economic Growth
Among 219 countries which have been ranked this year, it has been estimated that 22 countries will have negative economic growth. With a negative rate of 5.1 percent estimated for the current year, Iran ranked 14th among the world's weakest economies. This is according to the World Bank's data which indicates Iran ranked third among countries with the lowest economic growth in the world in 2012. In 2012, only "South Sudan" or "Sudan" had negative economic growth compared to Iran. Information about this year's new estimations suggest that with a negative growth rate of 5.1 percent, Iran ranked 14 in the world in terms of negative economic growth which shows the relative improvement in the country's ranking. Of course, some of the estimations by the central bank officials demonstrate that with the improvement of economic sanctions and also foreign relations following the nuclear agreement, there is a potential for economic growth to increase to 6 percent in a short period which places Iran in the position of countries with acceptable economic growth. However, experts believe that according to the existing capacities in the country, Iran has the potential for the economic growth rate of eight percent or more as well.

Exit the Hyperinflation List
Also, comparing recent rate of inflation in Iran with other countries represents that currently, comparing with economies with available statistics, Iran ranks 6th in terms of high inflation. Previously, and especially in the last two years, Iran has been among the three countries with very high inflation rates. The last reported inflation rate in Iran has been 7.27 per cent. With inflation rate of 3.25 percent, Argentina is located after Iran in this classification. However, due to the decreasing trend of inflation rate, it has been expected if this process is continuing to the end of this year, Iran will not be in the list of 10 countries of the world with the highest rate of inflation anymore. It has been anticipated that the inflation rate declines to less than 20 percent by the end of the year. Although, the official goal for inflation rate for the current year was 25 percent, studies show that the inflation target will be achieved and determined in August. Studies also suggest that at present, among the countries with available statistics, five countries have inflation rates above 30 percent; nine countries have inflation rates above 20 percent, and 28 countries have double-digit inflation.