Countries by Financial Hardship
Complete ranking of 30 countries • Percentage of population aged 16 years or over • Updated 2026
About Difficulty Making Ends Meet Rankings
Greece leads all 30 countries in Difficulty Making Ends Meet with a value of 66.7, while United Kingdom ranks last at 7.20. This represents a 9-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.
What Difficulty Making Ends Meet Measures
Difficulty Making Ends Meet is a comparative indicator tracked across countries by the OECD. It provides a quantitative basis for cross-national comparison, enabling researchers and policymakers to benchmark national performance on this dimension against global peers.
Why This Ranking Matters
Examining Difficulty Making Ends Meet across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.
Global Range
Values range from 7.20 (United Kingdom) to 66.7 (Greece) — a 9-fold difference across 30 countries.
Regional Patterns
European countries dominate this ranking, holding 18 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.
Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 9.80 to 21.8. The overall spread from 7.20 to 66.7 reflects significant global variation.
Notable Outliers
Greece stands far above the rest, with a value 54% higher than second-place Mexico. This extraordinary lead suggests unique national circumstances — geographic scale, resource endowment, or policy choices — that set it apart from even its closest competitors.
Continental Leaders
Highest Ranked
The top five countries for Difficulty Making Ends Meet are Greece (66.7), Mexico (43.4), Turkey (32.2), Slovakia (28.7), and Latvia (23.3). Together, these nations represent the global leaders in this metric.
Lowest Ranked
At the other end of the spectrum, United Kingdom (7.20), Netherlands (7.30), Germany (7.30), Luxembourg (8.50), and New Zealand (8.80) have the lowest values globally.
Data Source & Methodology
Rankings are based on the latest available data from OECD, covering 30 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.
Top 10 Countries
Full Rankings
| Percentile | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Greece | 66.7% | Europe | 100% |
| 2nd |  Mexico | 43.4% | North America | 97% |
| 3rd |  Turkey | 32.2% | Europe | 93% |
| 4th |  Slovakia | 28.7% | Europe | 90% |
| 5th |  Latvia | 23.3% | Europe | 87% |
| 6th |  Spain | 21.9% | Europe | 83% |
| 7th |  France | 21.8% | Europe | 80% |
| 8th |  Portugal | 21.8% | Europe | 77% |
| 9th |  Canada | 20.4% | North America | 73% |
| 10th |  Hungary | 19.9% | Europe | 70% |
| 11th |  Italy | 18.7% | Europe | 67% |
| 12th |  Belgium | 17.1% | Europe | 63% |
| 13th |  Ireland | 16.9% | Europe | 60% |
| 14th |  Czechia | 14.2% | Europe | 57% |
| 15th |  Slovenia | 13.6% | Europe | 53% |
| 16th |  Austria | 13.1% | Europe | 50% |
| 17th |  Denmark | 12.8% | Europe | 47% |
| 18th |  Poland | 11.5% | Europe | 43% |
| 19th |  Lithuania | 11.4% | Europe | 40% |
| 20th |  Switzerland | 9.9% | Europe | 37% |
| 21st |  Estonia | 9.9% | Europe | 33% |
| 22nd |  Sweden | 9.9% | Europe | 30% |
| 23rd |  Norway | 9.8% | Europe | 27% |
| 24th |  Iceland | 9.4% | Europe | 23% |
| 25th |  Finland | 8.9% | Europe | 20% |
| 26th |  New Zealand | 8.8% | Oceania | 17% |
| 27th |  Luxembourg | 8.5% | Europe | 13% |
| 28th |  Germany | 7.3% | Europe | 10% |
| 29th |  Netherlands | 7.3% | Europe | 7% |
| 30th |  United Kingdom | 7.2% | Europe | 3% |