This Country Has the Highest Inflation in the World

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Nov 27, 1:00PM EST

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This Country Has the Highest Inflation in the World — © DouglasOlivares / iStock via Getty Images

Inflation has become a problem in America after a decade of relatively slow growth in the prices of most items Americans frequently buy. New data show that the inflation rate in the United States has picked up and has reached 6.2% in October 2021. That is still a far cry from the rate in Venezuela, the country with the highest inflation in the world.

The new University of Michigan Survey of Consumers showed inflation uncertainty reached a four-decade high. This will almost certainly affect consumer spending. People who worry about inflation wonder what will happen to the costs of everything from food to mortgages. One offsetting factor is that wages are also rising. Wages recently jumped at a record pace.

Would rapidly rising wages cause people to buy more? Ironically, that depends on how much people are worried about inflation.

Inflation in the United States is tame by the standards of other countries. The inflation rate in Venezuela is 1,575% (October). The next highest nation is well below that. The inflation rate in Sudan is 366% (September). (This is how much a meal at McDonald’s costs around the world.)

Venezuela’s inflation rate has destroyed its economy. The problems are not new. According to Trading Economics, the country first hit hyperinflation in 1979. People cannot even buy basic goods now. News reports show prices in supermarkets marked in dollars and people struggling to afford and buy anything. At one point, the highest denomination bill in the country was for 1 million Venezuelan bolivares.

Among the reasons inflation is so high in the country is a lack of goods. The economy has been so badly crippled that production of almost everything has cratered. To offset this, the government printed more currency. As people converted their money assets into dollars, the price of the bolivar rose further.

As a result of high inflation and poor economic conditions, 3 million people have left the country. That is 10% of the population. (This state had the biggest population drop in the past 10 years.)

Venezuela overhauled its currency this October, wiping six zeros, in order to facilitate transactions and accounting. This is the second overhaul in three years.

Some problems have ready solutions. Others appear to have no solution at all. For the time being, inflation in Venezuela falls into the second category.

Click here to see the country that has the highest inflation in the world

50. Serbia
> Inflation rate: 6.6% (Oct-21)

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49. Poland
> Inflation rate: 6.8% (Oct-21)

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48. Guyana
> Inflation rate: 6.8% (Sep-21)

46. Estonia
> Inflation rate: 7.0% (Oct-21)

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46. Liberia
> Inflation rate: 7.0% (Aug-21)

45. Iraq
> Inflation rate: 7.3% (Sep-21)

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44. Gambia
> Inflation rate: 7.3% (Oct-21)

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42. Paraguay
> Inflation rate: 7.6% (Oct-21)

42. Sri Lanka
> Inflation rate: 7.6% (Oct-21)

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41. Dominican Republic
> Inflation rate: 7.7% (Oct-21)

40. Uruguay
> Inflation rate: 7.9% (Oct-21)

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39. Romania
> Inflation rate: 7.9% (Oct-21)

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38. Lithuania
> Inflation rate: 8.0% (Oct-21)

37. Russia
> Inflation rate: 8.1% (Oct-21)

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36. Jamaica
> Inflation rate: 8.2% (Sep-21)

35. Tajikistan
> Inflation rate: 8.7% (Oct-21)

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33. Botswana
> Inflation rate: 8.8% (Oct-21)

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33. Moldova
> Inflation rate: 8.8% (Oct-21)

32. Kazakhstan
> Inflation rate: 8.9% (Oct-21)

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30. Armenia
> Inflation rate: 9.1% (Oct-21)

30. Sao Tome and Principe
> Inflation rate: 9.1% (Sep-21)

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29. Pakistan
> Inflation rate: 9.2% (Oct-21)

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28. Mongolia
> Inflation rate: 9.7% (Oct-21)

27. Malawi
> Inflation rate: 9.8% (Oct-21)

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26. Burundi
> Inflation rate: 9.9% (Oct-21)

24. Seychelles
> Inflation rate: 10.0% (Oct-21)

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24. Turkmenistan
> Inflation rate: 10.0% (Dec-20)

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23. Belarus
> Inflation rate: 10.5% (Oct-21)

22. Uzbekistan
> Inflation rate: 10.6% (Oct-21)

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21. Brazil
> Inflation rate: 10.7% (Oct-21)

20. Ukraine
> Inflation rate: 10.9% (Oct-21)

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19. Haiti
> Inflation rate: 10.9% (Aug-21)

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18. Ghana
> Inflation rate: 11.0% (Oct-21)

17. Sierra Leone
> Inflation rate: 11.6% (Sep-21)

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16. Kyrgyzstan
> Inflation rate: 12.5% (Oct-21)

15. Guinea
> Inflation rate: 12.7% (Oct-21)

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14. Georgia
> Inflation rate: 12.8% (Oct-21)

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13. Nigeria
> Inflation rate: 16.0% (Oct-21)

12. Turkey
> Inflation rate: 19.9% (Oct-21)

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11. Zambia
> Inflation rate: 21.1% (Oct-21)

10. Angola
> Inflation rate: 26.9% (Oct-21)

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9. Ethiopia
> Inflation rate: 34.2% (Oct-21)

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8. Iran
> Inflation rate: 39.2% (Oct-21)

7. Argentina
> Inflation rate: 52.1% (Oct-21)

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6. Zimbabwe
> Inflation rate: 54.5% (Oct-21)

5. Suriname
> Inflation rate: 69.5% (Sep-21)

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4. Syria
> Inflation rate: 139.0% (Aug-21)

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3. Lebanon
> Inflation rate: 144.0% (Sep-21)

2. Sudan
> Inflation rate: 366.0% (Sep-21)

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1. Venezuela
> Inflation rate: 1,575.0% (Oct-21)

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.