Global peace index 2012: the full list
The world has become more peaceful for the first time since 2009 according to the Global Peace Index 2012, whilst Syria has dropped over 30 places on the rankings. See how the data’s changed over time
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The world has become more peaceful for the first time since 2009 according to the annual Global Peace Index (GPI) released today. Austerity-driven defence cuts creating gains in several indicators of militarisation and improvements in the Political Terror Scale have lead to changes in the annual rankings.
Published by the Institute for Economics & Peace, the index tries to measure peacefulness. This year has seen the world become ‘slightly more peaceful’ – bucking the trend seen in the last two years where the ranking showed a decline in global peace.
Iceland is once again ranked the most peaceful peaceful country in the world, followed by Denmark and New Zealand.Syria has seen the biggest drop in margin, falling over 30 places to be placed at 147th. The UK has fallen three places to 29th position, meaning it is the first year the UK placement has not risen in the list.
The top 5 fallers are Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Oman and Malawi. The Middle East is now amongst one of the least peaceful regions in the world, with the drop in rankings for the Arab countries refelecting the turbulence and instability created by the events of the Arab Spring.
Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bhutan, Guyana and the Philippines are the top 5 risers on the GPI 2012. Including three of the top five risers, Asia Pacific region’s overall score improved by the greatest extent from 2011. Steve Killilea of the IEP says:
Peacefulness has returned to approximately the levels seen in 2007, but while
external measures of peacefulness have improved, there has been a rise in internal conflict. This is particularly noticeable in the rise in fatalities from terrorist acts which have more than trebled since 2003.
Now in it’s sixth year, the GPI is made up of 23 indicators and ranks 158 countries. It gages the level of safety and security in society and also looks at the extent of domestic or international conflict.
The indicators range from a nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and the level of respect for human rights. The index has been tested against a range of potential “drivers” or determinants of peace—including levels of democracy and transparency, education and national wellbeing.
So what does the 2012 rankings show us? Below are some of the findings:
• Somalia is the least peaceful country at 158th position and with a score of 3.392. Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo make up the bottom five
• There has been change for the the indicators as well. The top three largest improvements have been for the Political Terror Scale, terrorist acts and military expenditure as a % of GDP
• Iceland has remained at the top spot as most peaceful country in the world, after dropping in the rankings in 2009 and 2010 because of violent demonstrations linked to the collapse of its financial system
• Sub-saharan Africa is no longer the least peaceful region in the world, for the first time since the GPI began
The index also finds the monetary value of peace: they estimate that if the world had been completely peaceful in 2011, the additional economic impact would have been an estimated $9tn – equal to the size of Germany and Japan’s economies combined.
We have the data going back to 2007 below. It’s one of a number of indicators available, such as Transparency International’s Corruption Index which collectively build up a qualitative picture of the world we live in.
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