Fact Box: Global Peace Index 2017

June 2, 2017

India has been ranked 137th in the Global Peace Index 2017, which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness. In Last year’s index, India was ranked 141st. This is the eleventh edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI). The index is compiled every year by the Sydney-based think tank Institute for Economics and Peace.
GPI is considered as one of the most comprehensive analysis that captures trends in peace, its economic value, and how to develop peaceful societies.
It has used 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure the state of peace using three thematic domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation. Various parameters like the homicide rate, the ease of access to weapons, the impact of terrorism and the number of armed services personnel in the population were analyzed in preparing the multifaceted index of peace indicators.

Salient highlights

Top 10 Peaceful Countries
Iceland (1), New Zealand (2), Portugal (3), Austria (4), Denmark (5), Czech Republic (6), Slovenia (7), Canada (8), Switzerland (9), Ireland (10).
Top 10 Least Peaceful Countries
Syria (163), Afghanistan (162), Iraq (161), South Sudan (160), Yemen (159), Somalia (158), Libya (157), Sudan and Central African Rep., both countries placed at 155th position and Ukraine (154).
The index has covered 99.7% of the world’s population. The GPI 2017 has found that the global level of peace has improved by 0.28 per cent, with 93 countries improving, while 68 countries deteriorated.
Six of the nine regions of the world has registered improvement. South America has registered the largest improvement as the fourth most peaceful region. The largest regional deterioration in score occurred in North America. The score for North America deteriorated entirely as a result of the US. Europe remains the most peaceful region in the world. The combined Middle East and North Africa was the least peaceful region in the world.
As per the GPI, the economic impact of violence on the global economy in 2016 was $14.3 trillion in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, which is roughly equivalent to 12.6% of the gross world product.