The most (and least) peaceful countries in the world in 2023

Each year, countries are ranked on the Global Peace Index (GPI), a composite measure of peacefulness according to the levels of safety and security in their society, involvement in local and international conflict, and their degree of militarization, among other things.

Photo: Sunguk Kim/Unsplash

The Institute for Economics and Peace develops the GPI by measuring a total of 23 indicators, including nuclear and heavy weapons, incarceration rate, homicide rate, political instability, and violent demonstrations.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its consequences were the main drivers of the deterioration in peacefulness globally. Both Russia and Ukraine are now ranked among the ten least peaceful countries, and Ukraine had the largest deterioration of any country in the 2023 GPI.

This year, the average level of country peacefulness deteriorated by 0.42%. And although slight, this is the twelfth deterioration in peacefulness in the last fourteen years.

By looking at the most peaceful countries in the world, perhaps we can have a better comprehension of how to develop more peaceful societies. These are the 10 most peaceful countries in 2023:

Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world. It has held this position since 2008. One factor that puts Iceland so high on the Peace Index is that it has no army, navy, or air force.

Photo: Evelyn Paris/Unsplash

Denmark recorded improvements in the ‘safety and security’ domain, jumping up two spots compared to last year, when it was ranked 4th most peaceful country in the world.

Photo: Nick Karvounis/Unsplash

New Zealand is the 4th most peaceful country in the world in the 2023 GPI and the most peaceful one in the Asia-Pacific region.

Photo: Casey Horner/Unsplash

Singapore moved four spots up from the 2022 Global Peace Index ranking and is now the 6th most peaceful country. It remains the second most peaceful nation in the Asia-Pacific region for the fourth consecutive year.

Singapore improved significantly in the ‘Safety and security’ domains, as well as in the ‘Militarization’ one, with large improvements particularly in ‘nuclear and heavy weapons’ and  in ‘weapon export’.

Japan came 9th in the list of the  most peaceful countries in the 2023 Global Peace Index. The country improved significantly in the ‘security and safety’ domain.

Photo: Clay Banks/Unsplash

With a high degree of safety and security and a low level of political instability, Switzerland came tenth in the 2023 Global Peace Index. However, it’s one of the world’s top weapons exporters, which stops it from ranking higher on the list.

The total number of conflict-related deaths increased by 96%, both from internal and external conflicts. Moreover, the report shows the indicator would have deteriorated even if Ukraine and Russia were excluded from the analysis.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region recorded the second largest improvement in peacefulness after North America, however it remained the world’s least peaceful region. It is home to four of the ten least peaceful countries in the world (Iraq, Syria,  Yemen and Sudan).

Europe remains the most peaceful region in the world. However, it deteriorated on all three GPI domains over the past year, as tensions between European countries and Russia continued to grow. Europe is less peaceful now than it was 15 years ago.

There were 59 countries where political instability deteriorated over the past year, compared to just 22 where the indicator improved.