The news might be dominated by stories of violence and war, but, according to the Global Peace Index, the world became a little bit more peaceful last year, reported I Am Expat online portal.
Every year since 2007, the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has compiled a global ranking of countries according to how peaceful they are.
They use factors such as war, terrorism, crime, police violence and arms exports to give 163 different countries worldwide an individual “peacefulness” score.
According to the report, the average level of global peacefulness improved very slightly last year, for the first time in five years.
The average country score improved by around 0,09 percent, with 86 countries improving their scores and 76 recording deteriorations.
Despite this improvement, the world is still considerably less peaceful than it was a decade ago, with the overall level of peacefulness having deteriorated by 3,7 percent since 2008.
Overall, Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, having held the position since 2008. Also at the top of the index are the countries New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark.
The least peaceful country in the world is Afghanistan, having overtaken the position held by Syria in previous years. The other countries at the bottom of the index are South Sudan, Yemen and Iraq.
The Top 20 most peaceful countries were as follows:
1. Iceland
2. New Zealand
3. Portugal
4. Austria
5. Denmark
6. Canada
7. SINGAPORE
8. Slovenia
9. Japan
10. Czech Republic
11. Switzerland
12. Ireland
13. Australia
14. Finland
15. Bhutan
16. MALAYSIA
17. Netherlands
= 18. Belgium
= 18. Sweden
20. Norway
As for in Southeast Asia alone, those are the rankings of every country listed within the report:
(REGIONAL RANK) (COUNTRY) (SCORE)
1 SINGAPORE (1.347)
2 MALAYSIA (1.529)
3 INDONESIA (1.785)
4 LAOS (1.801)
5 TIMOR-LESTE (1.805)
6 VIETNAM (1.877)
7 CAMBODIA (2.066)
8 THAILAND (2.278)
9 MYANMAR (2.393)
10 PHILIPPINES (2.596)
Source : I Am Expat | Global Peace Index 2019 Official Report
