Global Peace Index 2024: Top 10 peaceful countries in the world—where does India rank?

In 2023, battle deaths reached 162,000, and the number of conflicts has risen since World War II, with 56 ongoing conflicts currently involving 92 countries beyond their borders.

The average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.56 per cent, with 97 countries deteriorating in peace, driven by factors like military technology advancements and increasing geopolitical competition, which are changing wars in the 21st century, IEP reveals.

In addition, the transition from a unipolar world dominated by the United States to a multipolar one has also led to heightened competition and prolonged conflicts.

Despite these challenges, the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2024 reveals that 65 countries are still improving and paving the way forward by thriving peacefully across the globe.

Societies that are peaceful experience increased income growth, stronger currencies, higher foreign investment, political stability, and greater happiness among their people. Here are the top 10 peaceful nations that set an example by focusing on fostering stability, facilitating economic growth, and promoting investments.

Global Peace Index 2024: Top 10 peaceful countries in the world

The Institute for Economics and Peace’s annual Global Peace Index provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating the peacefulness of nations. It assesses the level of peacefulness in 163 countries and territories around the world.

Global Peace Index 2024: The average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.56%. (Source: X/@GlobPeaceIndex)

So, as the world grapples with the changing nature of peacebuilding and warfare in the 21st century, here are the world’s top 10 countries offering hope and inspiration for a more peaceful future.

Source: Global Peace Index 2024

Please Note: The Global Peace Index (GPI) is a composite index that measures the peacefulness of countries. It is made up of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators, each weighted on a scale of 1-5, where the lower score indicates a more peaceful country.

Key regional highlights:

Europe:

• Western Europe is recognised as the most peaceful region globally in the 2024 GPI, with seven of the top ten most peaceful countries located there and even ranking in the top three.
• Iceland has retained its position as the most peaceful country in the world since 2008, despite a slight decrease of 1.55% in its peace score due to a small rise in violent demonstrations.
• Greece has shown significant improvement in peacefulness, ranking 40th globally, with a 7.48% increase in its score. This is primarily driven by reduced internal conflict intensity and enhanced relations with neighbouring countries.
• Conversely, Turkey ranks as the least peaceful country in Europe on the 2024 GPI, global ranking of 136th, and is experiencing a 0.69% decrease in overall peacefulness, largely attributed to increased militarization in recent years.

Asia-Pacific:

• The Asia-Pacific region experienced a slight decrease in peacefulness in the 2024 Global Peace Index (GPI), with an overall score decrease of 0.1 per cent. However, it still maintains its position as the second most peaceful region globally, a ranking it has held since 2017.
• New Zealand is the most peaceful country in the Pacific region and is ranked 4th globally in the 2024 GPI.
• Singapore and Malaysia are the most peaceful countries in Asia, ranking 5th and 10th globally, respectively.
• Conversely, North Korea has consistently been the least peaceful country in the Asia region since the inception of the GPI, currently ranking 152nd globally.
• Japan experienced its most significant deterioration since the inception of the GPI, dropping four places to now be ranked 17th globally, owing to deteriorations in all indicators within the militarisation domain.

North America:

• North America, the world’s third-most peaceful area, endured the most significant drop in the GPI 2024, with the average percentage of peacefulness falling by just under 5%.
• The North American area consists of only two countries in the peaceful index: Canada and the United States, and interestingly, there is a notable considerable disparity, with Canada ranked 11th and the US ranked 132nd on the list of global peace rankings.
• The United States experienced a 5.7% drop in peacefulness, primarily due to an increase in politically motivated assaults and mass shootings.

Russia and Eurasia:

• The Russia and Eurasia region saw the largest improvement in GPI 2024, with an average peacefulness improvement of 0.6%. However, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia still ranks the region 157th and 159th globally, respectively.
• Notably, Kazakhstan, the most peaceful country in the region, saw the largest improvement in peacefulness, with a 10.8% overall score increase, bringing its ranking from 78th to 59th in 2024.

Middle East and North Africa:

• The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) area remains the least peaceful region for the ninth consecutive year, owing to the Israel-Gaza hostilities and internal Sudanese disputes.
• Four of the ten least peaceful nations are located here, with Yemen, being the least peaceful country in the area and globally, ranked bottom at the 163rd.
• In contrast, Kuwait is the most peaceful country in the MENA region and the 25th most peaceful country in the world.

Where does India stand?

India is one of the largest countries in the South Asia region and one of the largest economies in the world. The overall level of peacefulness in India has improved by 1.6 per cent over the past year, making it more peaceful now than at any time since the index was established.

India is currently ranked 116th globally in the GPI 2024, which is a significant improvement from its 126th rank in 2023, 139th in 2020, and 141st in 2019.

While India continues to face challenges in its relationships with neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China, there have been noticeable improvements in internal conflicts, perceptions of criminality, and indicators of terrorism impact.

Southeast Asia: Comparing India with its neighbouring countries:

The Southeast Asia region has seen a slight decrease in peacefulness over the past year, with four out of seven countries experiencing deterioration. The main cause was a decline in Militarisation, with UN peacekeeping funding payments decreasing and military expenditure increasing.

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