In financial terms the past year has been bad for almost everyone. Inflation of 10% year-on-year across the rich world has slashed household incomes. Investors have lost out as global stockmarkets have plunged by 20%. Yet this poor aggregate performance hides wide differences: some countries have done pretty well.

從財(cái)務(wù)角度來(lái)說(shuō)，過(guò)去的一年對(duì)幾乎所有人來(lái)說(shuō)都是糟糕的一年。發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家10% 的年通貨膨脹率使家庭收入大幅下降。隨著全球股市暴跌20%，投資者損失慘重。然而，這種糟糕的總體表現(xiàn)掩蓋了巨大的差異: 一些國(guó)家做得相當(dāng)好。

To assess these differences, The Economist has compiled data on five economic and financial indicators—gdp, inflation, inflation breadth, stockmarket performance and government debt—for 34 mostly rich countries. We have ranked each economy according to how well it has done on these measures, and created an overall score. The table at the end of this article shows the rankings. It includes some unexpected results.

為了評(píng)估這些差異，《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》整理了34個(gè)主要是發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家的5項(xiàng)經(jīng)濟(jì)和金融指標(biāo)數(shù)據(jù)，即GDP、通貨膨脹、通貨膨脹廣度、股市表現(xiàn)和政府債務(wù)。我們根據(jù)每個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)體在這些指標(biāo)上的表現(xiàn)進(jìn)行了排名，并給出了一個(gè)總分。本文末尾的圖表展示了排名。它包括一些意想不到的結(jié)果。

For the first time in a while, the economic party is happening in the Mediterranean. Top of our list is Greece. Other countries that plumbed the economic depths in the early 2010s, including Portugal and Spain, also score highly. They are not the only pleasant surprises. Despite political chaos, Israel did well. Meanwhile, despite political stability, Germany is an underperformer. Two Baltic countries, Estonia and Latvia, which won plaudits in the 2010s for speedy reforms, come bottom.

一段時(shí)間以來(lái)，地中海地區(qū)第一次迎來(lái)了經(jīng)濟(jì)盛宴。排名第一的是希臘。包括葡萄牙和西班牙在內(nèi)的其他國(guó)家在2010年代初經(jīng)濟(jì)下滑的國(guó)家，得分也很高。它們并不是唯一的驚喜。盡管以色列政治混亂，但其表現(xiàn)不錯(cuò)。與此同時(shí)，雖然德國(guó)政治穩(wěn)定，但其表現(xiàn)不佳。在2010年代因快速改革而贏得贊譽(yù)地愛(ài)沙尼亞和拉脫維亞這兩個(gè)波羅的海國(guó)家排名墊底。

gdp, usually the best measure of economic health, is our first indicator. Norway (helped by high oil prices) and Turkey (by a boom in sanctions-busting trade with Russia) have done better than most. The fallout from covid-19 also looms large. Thanks to strict lockdowns and a collapse in tourism, a year ago much of southern Europe was in dire straits, so the region was due a decent year. Visits to the Balearics recently rebounded beyond their pre-pandemic level. As your correspondent discovered on a recent trip to Ibiza, the island is so busy it is difficult to book a taxi or find a spot at a half-decent restaurant.

GDP通常是衡量經(jīng)濟(jì)健康狀況的最佳指標(biāo)，它也是我們的第一個(gè)衡量指標(biāo)。挪威(得益于高油價(jià))和土耳其(得益于與俄羅斯違反制裁的貿(mào)易繁榮)比大多數(shù)國(guó)家情況更好。covid-19的影響也很?chē)?yán)重。由于嚴(yán)格的封鎖和旅游業(yè)的崩潰，一年前南歐大部分地區(qū)都陷入了困境，所以該地區(qū)今年應(yīng)該是不錯(cuò)的一年。最近前往巴利阿里群島的游客數(shù)量超過(guò)了疫情前的水平。正如本刊記者在最近一次伊維薩島之旅中發(fā)現(xiàn)的那樣，該島非常熱鬧，熱鬧到很難訂到出租車(chē)，也很難在一家還算過(guò)得去的餐廳找到位置。

Ireland probably had a strong year, though one not nearly as strong as gdp numbers suggest. The activities of big multinational companies, many registered there for tax purposes, have for years distorted the figures. By contrast, America’s gdp numbers are misleadingly weak: in recent quarters official statisticians have struggled to account for the impact of enormous stimulus packages.

愛(ài)爾蘭可能經(jīng)歷了強(qiáng)勁的一年，盡管沒(méi)有GDP數(shù)據(jù)顯示的那么強(qiáng)勁。大型跨國(guó)公司的活動(dòng)多年來(lái)扭曲了這些數(shù)據(jù)，其中許多公司是出于稅務(wù)目的在愛(ài)爾蘭注冊(cè)的。相比之下，美國(guó)的GDP數(shù)據(jù)卻低得令人難以置信: 最近幾個(gè)季度，官方統(tǒng)計(jì)人員一直在努力解釋巨額刺激計(jì)劃的影響。

More granular data fill in the picture. Our second measure is the change in the price level since the end of 2021. Away from the world’s attention, some countries have seen low inflation. In Switzerland consumer prices have risen by just 3%. The country’s central bank, helped along by a strong currency, responded rapidly to the rise in prices earlier this year. Countries which have non-Russian energy sources—such as Spain, which gets much of its gas from Algeria—have also done better than average. Those reliant on Vladimir Putin for fuel have truly suffered. In Latvia average consumer prices have risen by a fifth.

更細(xì)的數(shù)據(jù)都在這張圖中。我們的第二個(gè)指標(biāo)是自2021年底以來(lái)的價(jià)格水平變化。在世界矚目之外，一些國(guó)家出現(xiàn)了低通脹。瑞士的消費(fèi)價(jià)格僅上漲了3%。在強(qiáng)勁貨幣的幫助下，該國(guó)央行在今年早些時(shí)候?qū)r(jià)格上漲做出了迅速反應(yīng)。擁有非俄羅斯能源來(lái)源的國(guó)家（比如西班牙，其大部分天然氣來(lái)自阿爾及利亞）的表現(xiàn)也高于平均水平。那些依賴(lài)弗拉基米爾?普京提供燃料的國(guó)家確實(shí)遭受了損失。拉脫維亞的平均消費(fèi)價(jià)格上漲了五分之一。

Our third measure also relates to inflation. It calculates the share of items in each country’s inflation basket where prices have risen by more than 2% in the past year. This provides an indication of how entrenched inflation is—and therefore hints at how quickly inflation will fall over the coming year. Some countries that suffer from high headline inflation have nonetheless been able to limit its breadth. In Italy, for instance, average consumer prices have risen by 11% this year, yet “only” two-thirds of its inflation basket has above-target inflation. Japanese inflation also looks like it may fade away. Britain is in more trouble. The price of every category in its basket is rising fast.

我們的第三個(gè)指標(biāo)也與通貨膨脹有關(guān)。它計(jì)算了在每個(gè)國(guó)家的通貨膨脹籃子中，去年價(jià)格上漲超過(guò)2%的物品所占的份額。這表明了通脹的根深蒂固程度，因此也暗示了未來(lái)一年通脹率將以多快的速度下降。盡管如此，一些遭受高總體通脹的國(guó)家仍能夠限制通脹的廣度。以意大利為例，今年平均消費(fèi)價(jià)格上漲了11%，然而“只有”三分之二的通貨膨脹籃子高于目標(biāo)通脹。日本的通貨膨脹看起來(lái)也可能會(huì)消退。英國(guó)的麻煩更大。其籃子里每一類(lèi)商品的價(jià)格都在快速上漲。

People’s sense of economic well-being does not just come from prices in the shops. They also look at the value of their pension pots and stock portfolios. In some countries it has been a terrible year for these sorts of investments. Share prices in both Germany and South Korea are down by nearly a fifth in 2022, double America’s decline. Swedish stocks have done even worse. Yet there are a few spots of strength. Norway’s stockmarket is up on the year. So is Britain’s, which is populated by the sort of dull, plodding companies that tend to be rewarded when economic times are tough. A fall in the value of the pound has also increased the value of foreign sales.

人們的經(jīng)濟(jì)幸福感不僅僅來(lái)自商店里的價(jià)格。他們還會(huì)考慮養(yǎng)老金和股票投資組合的價(jià)值。在一些國(guó)家，今年對(duì)這類(lèi)投資來(lái)說(shuō)是糟糕的一年。2022年，德國(guó)和韓國(guó)的股價(jià)都將下跌近五分之一，跌幅是美國(guó)的兩倍。瑞典股市的表現(xiàn)更糟。但也有一些國(guó)家有優(yōu)勢(shì)。挪威股市今年上漲。英國(guó)的股市也是如此，因?yàn)橛?guó)都是那種沉悶、緩慢的公司，在經(jīng)濟(jì)困難時(shí)期，這些公司往往會(huì)得到回報(bào)。英鎊貶值也增加了海外銷(xiāo)售額。

Our final measure concerns the change in net government debt as a share of gdp. In the short run ministers are able to paper over economic cracks by increasing spending or cutting taxes. However this can create more debt and thus the need to turn the fiscal screws in the future. Some governments have spent extravagantly to cope with the cost-of-living squeeze. Germany has allocated funds worth about 7% of gdp to help with sky-high energy costs, meaning its debt-to-gdp ratio has risen. Other countries have pulled back from the splurge, helping to right the fiscal ship. Assisted by high inflation, public debt in southern European countries seems to be on the way down.

我們的最后一個(gè)衡量指標(biāo)是政府凈債務(wù)占GDP比重的變化。在短期內(nèi)，部長(zhǎng)們可以通過(guò)增加支出或減稅來(lái)掩蓋經(jīng)濟(jì)裂縫。然而，這可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生更多的債務(wù)，從而需要在未來(lái)擰緊財(cái)政螺絲。為了應(yīng)對(duì)生活成本的緊縮，一些政府已經(jīng)大手筆花錢(qián)。德國(guó)已經(jīng)撥出了約占GDP 7%的資金來(lái)幫助解決高企的能源成本，這意味著德國(guó)的債務(wù)占GDP的比例已經(jīng)上升。其他國(guó)家已經(jīng)停止了揮霍，幫助扭轉(zhuǎn)了財(cái)政狀況。在高通脹的推動(dòng)下，南歐國(guó)家的公共債務(wù)似乎正在下降。

Will the gap between 2022’s winners and losers persist in 2023? Before long southern Europe’s economic growth, weighed down by rapidly ageing populations and high debts, will surely fall back to the region’s usual less-than-stellar levels. And there are hopeful signs that in countries such as America and Britain high inflation may finally be easing, which would help them up the rankings.

2022年的贏家和輸家之間的差距會(huì)持續(xù)到2023年嗎? 不久之后，受快速老齡化人口和高額債務(wù)的拖累，南歐的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)肯定會(huì)回落到該地區(qū)通常不那么出色的水平。有跡象表明，在美國(guó)和英國(guó)這樣的國(guó)家，高通貨膨脹可能最終會(huì)緩解，這將有助于他們提高排名。

Along other dimensions, differences are likely to persist, not least when it comes to those countries reliant on Mr Putin for their energy supplies. Against the odds, many managed to replenish their stores of natural gas before winter set in—but only by paying outrageous prices. With supplies now largely cut off, the coming year will be a lot more difficult. That will be a big concern in the Baltics, but less so on the other side of Europe. It is hard to worry about gas supplies while eating a giant plate of squid on an Ibicencan beach.

在其他方面，差異可能會(huì)持續(xù)存在，尤其是在那些依賴(lài)普京能源供應(yīng)的國(guó)家。盡管困難重重，許多人還是設(shè)法在冬天來(lái)臨之前補(bǔ)充了他們的天然氣儲(chǔ)備，但他們支付了高得離譜的價(jià)格。由于目前供應(yīng)基本被切斷，未來(lái)一年將更加困難。這將是波羅的海國(guó)家的一個(gè)大問(wèn)題，但在歐洲的另一邊就不那么令人擔(dān)憂了。當(dāng)你在伊維薩島海灘上吃著一大盤(pán)魷魚(yú)時(shí)，你很難擔(dān)心天然氣供應(yīng)問(wèn)題。