The difference between national gross production growth rate and the inflation rate was used to measure economical welfare in this study. The growth rate divided by the inflation rate reached -35% in Iran, for comparison the world average is -3%.

These numbers are especially alarming for Iran when you consider that the -3% figure takes into account the recent economic downturn in Europe. The world average will be much higher when Europe eventually stabilizes, further highlighting the depressed situation in Iran.

On February 11th the Etedaal state-run website quoted Hassan Hefdahtan, the deputy of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare: “Every 1% percent of inflation reduces the income of the families by 2.1%. According to this formula, because of the current 38.4% inflation, the income of the Iranian families has plummeted by 80%.” State-run website Tabnak reported that the real inflation rate is over 50%. These reports have discouraged investors from spending in Iran, compounding the problem.

These statistics also show that only 19 countries have an index of economical welfare that is below -10 and amongst them Iran, Belarus, and Sudan are in the worst welfare situation. Georgia, Japan and Switzerland have the highest levels of economical welfare.