The world's last leadership personality cults can be found in the three nations of Togo in west Africa, Turkmenistan in central Asia and North Korea, the London-based weekly magazine Economist said on Friday.

In an article entitled "Toughs at the Top," the weekly described the communist North under Kim Jong-il's regime as "arguably the world's nastiest."

It went on to say that it is "not easy to make a country populated by Koreans poor, but some 5-10 percent of the people in (North Korea) starved to death in the 1990s." Those overheard complaining could be sent to freezing prison camps, it said.

The magazine also listed some similarities and differences in how the three states glorify their state leaders.