The Global Peace Index is an annual ranking of 163 international countries based on how peaceful they are, using 23 indicators across three main areas:
Published by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), the Index has become one of the most widely referenced tools for understanding peace in the modern world.
But this is more than just a list.
The GPI clarifies which nations are the most peaceful, which are war torn and dangeorus; and how trends in conflict, politics, economics and society influences national and international stability.
Understanding the Global Peace Index offers an invaluable insight into the current state of our world.
At first glance, the term peace seems too abstract to define, let alone measure.
But the Global Peace Index uses various data points to convert that into something we can easily understand.
It does this by analysing 23 core indicators each weighted on a scale of 1-5, carefully selected to capture the key ingredients of peaceful societies.
These indicators are grouped into three overarching themes:
This looks at how safe people feel in their own communities.
It covers factors like crime levels, the risk of terrorism, the number of refugees or displaced people, and the overall stability of daily life.
When safety in this category falls, it usually reflects political unrest, a rise in violence, or eroding trust in institutions.
This measures the presence and intensity of conflicts both within a country’s borders and beyond them.
Nations involved in long-standing wars or tense relations with bordering countries often rank poorly, especially if those conflicts areongoing and unresolved.
This metric measures how heavily a country relies on military force.
It looks at things like defence spending, military personnel numbers, weapons capabilities, and nuclear policies.
This category also reviews the level of transparency in military affairs, which influences whether a country is perceived as volatile or stable.
Each country is scored based on these indicators, with a lower overall score indicating greater peacefulness.
But the point of the Index isn’t just to name and shame.
It’s to highlight areas for improvement and spark proactive and informed conversation about what peace should look like.
Over time, the Global Peace Index has reminded us that peace is fragile, and that no country is immune to conflict.
While some nations tend to remain predictably stable, others experience sharp fluctuations driven by war, economic hardship, or political unrest.
Below is a closer look at recent editions of the report.
The 2025 GPI paints a sobering picture.
Global peacefulness declined yet again, marking the twelfth fall in global safety over the past fifteen years.
Much of this is attributed to ongoing conflicts, most notably the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as continued unrest in parts of Africa and the Middle East.
Europe continues to be the world’s most peaceful region, but the cracks are starting to show.
Cost of living pressures, rampant inflation, rising unemployment, illegal immigration, and political tribalism has created friction in countries once considered relatively peaceful.
A striking finding from the 2025 report is the cost of violence.
Globally, the economic impact of violence reached over $17 trillion.
This almost unimaginable sum represents around 13% of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
In short, peace isn’t just driven be moral ethics, economic stability has a huge part to play as well.
In 2024, several nations were recovering from the global pandemic, yet new shocks were reshaping the world’s map of peace.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing instability in Afghanistan, and growing tensions in the Pacific rim all played their part.
Yet, the overall picture wasn’t universally grim.
Several countries in Africa and Asia made modest gains in peacefulness, largely due to reduced terrorism and local conflict.
But with so many new global hotspots flaring up, the net result was another decline in overall peace.
2022 marked the year that conflict returned to Europe in a way not seen in decades.
The Russia-Ukraine war dominated headlines and caused a spike in the data.
In the space of just a few months, millions were displaced, thousands of lives were lost, and geopolitical fault lines deepened.
Despite this, the GPI also noted a fall in global deaths from terrorism.
A small yet meaningful sign of progress in counter-extremism efforts, especially in parts of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.
With the pandemic still fresh in our minds, many countries faced a delicate balance in 2021.
Public trust in government and authorities was strained, economic inequality widened, and governments grappled with social discontent.
The 2021 Index showed that while the average peacefulness declined by a fraction, several countries actually became more peaceful.
However, the gains were modest and fragile.
Internal tensions simmered in many western democracies, including the United States, where political division and civil unrest impacted scores significantly.
2020 was the year the world came to a grinding halt!
COVID-19 forced governments to impose emergency powers, lockdowns, and strict travel restrictions.
As a result, this led to a temporary dip in violent crime and military activity in many countries.
In others however, it triggered unrest, protests, and even violence.
The economic strain caused by the pandemic had a polorising effect.
Some governments scaled back military spending, while others used it as an opportunity to intensify power, sometimes at the cost of personal liberty.
The peace dividend from the pandemic, if there was one, didn’t last long.
Despite all the global turmoil, there’s still nations that consistently rank among the most peaceful places on Earth.
These countries tend to have strong institutions, stable politics, low crime levels, and a culture that values cooperation over conflict.
Iceland consistently holds the top spot; a position it has maintained since the first edition of the Index back in 2008.
With no standing army, low crime rates, and a strong sense of community, it sets the global standard for peace.
Hot on its heels in second is the Republic of Ireland; a country that has transformed itself into a haven of neutrality, economic prosperity, and political stability.
New Zealand also ranks high thanks to its transparent government and inclusive policies.
Due to its global position, New Zealand tends to remain isolated from major geopolitical flashpoints.
Other regulars in the top ten include Austria, Switzerland, Singapore, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, and Finland; countries all known for their quality of life, democratic systems, and commitment to peace both at home and abroad.
What these countries share is not just low violent crime, but high trust.
In many ways, peacefulness is as much about how a society treats its own people as how it engages with the rest of the world.
For readers who want to dive deeper into the data, the Institute for Economics & Peace provides full access to all GPI reports and related resources.
These include regional summaries, economic cost breakdowns, and historical comparisons.
These reports are ideal for researchers, educators, and policymakers looking to explore the index in greater detail.
The Global Peace Index is far more than a ranking table.
It’s a mirror held up to the world; reflecting where we stand, how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go.
Yes, the world remains troubled by ongoing conflicts like Ukraine and the Middle East.
But the GPI also highlights where peace is flourishing, how and why.
It shows that peace is not just the absence of war; it’s built on trust, governance, safety, and opportunity.
It reminds us that investing in peace pays dividends not just morally, but economically.
For anyone looking to understand the true state of global stability, the GPI is a powerful tool, and one that grows more critical with each passing year.
