The 2023 Global Peace Index (GPI) on June 28, 2023 released its rankings for 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness. Here is the list of the most peaceful countries and the least peaceful countries.
Global Peace Index 2023 Rankings
The most peaceful country in the world in 2023 is Iceland, which has held this position since 2008. Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Austria round out the top five most peaceful countries.
The least peaceful country in the world in 2023 is Afghanistan, which has held this position for the eighth consecutive year. Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the other four least peaceful countries.
Top 10 Most Peaceful countries
Iceland
Denmark
Ireland
New Zealand
Austria
Singapore
Portugal
Slovenia
Japan
Switzerland
Top 10 Least Peaceful countries
Afghanistan (last)
Yemen
Syria
South Sudan
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Russia
Ukraine
Somalia
Sudan
Iraq
The 2023 GPI finds that the world became less peaceful for the 13th time in the last 15 years, with the average level of country peacefulness deteriorating by 0.42 per cent over the past year.
Where Does India Stand
India is the most populous country in the region and ranks as the 126th most peaceful nation in the 2023 GPI. The country experienced an improvement of 3.5 percent in overall peacefulness over the past year, owing to improvements in violent crime, neighbouring countries' relations and political instability. The improvement on the neighbouring countries' relations indicator occurred because of fewer incidences of cross-border violence and ceasefire violations with Pakistan and China in 2022.
Furthermore, the reduction in geopolitical tensions with China owing to the reduction in border incidents, as well as less social unrest more generally, led to an improvement on the political instability indicator.
How Is Global Peace Index Calculated
The Global Peace Index (GPI) is a composite index produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) that measures the relative peacefulness of countries. The GPI is grouped into three domains:
Societal safety and security: This domain measures the level of violence and crime in a country, as well as the extent of political instability.
Ongoing domestic and international conflict: This domain measures the number of ongoing conflicts in a country, as well as the intensity of those conflicts.
Militarisation: This domain measures the size and spending of a country's military.
The indicators are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the most peaceful and 5 being the least peaceful. The GPI uses a weighted average of the scores for each indicator to calculate a country's overall peace score.
The GPI is published annually and is used to track trends in global peace. The 2023 GPI found that the average level of global peace deteriorated for the ninth consecutive year. The report attributed this decline to a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change.
The GPI is a valuable tool for understanding the state of global peace and identifying the factors that contribute to peace and conflict. The report can be used to inform policy decisions and to help countries develop strategies for building a more peaceful world.
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