Qatar has been ranked the most peaceful country in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the 17th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2023.
The ranking also placed Qatar 21st in the world, recording a jump of two spots this year.
The index ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness and is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
It measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security, the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, and the degree of Militarisation.
“Qatar remains the most peaceful country in the region, a position it has held since 2008. It is the only country in the region to be ranked in the top 25 most peaceful countries globally,” GPI stated.
Last year, the Global Peace Index ranked Qatar as the most peaceful country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and out of the 163 countries, Qatar ranked the 23rd most peaceful country in the world.
“Qatar improved in overall peacefulness in 2023, driven by improvements in political instability, external conflicts fought and UN peacekeeping funding. The restoration of diplomatic relations in 2021 with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt helped improve the internal political situation in Qatar. Relations have remained stable throughout 2022, resulting in a full-year improvement to political stability,” the GPI statement added.
In the MENA region, Kuwait placed second in the regional ranking and 35th globally, while Oman, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were in the top five, while Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia made up the top ten.
Yemen was the least peaceful country in the MENA region.
The index places Europe as the most peaceful region in the world -- home to seven of the ten most peaceful countries.
The other three most peaceful countries are in the Asia Pacific region.
The MENA region remained the world’s least peaceful region.
While the region recorded the most significant improvement in peace, it is home to four of the ten least peaceful countries.
Iceland maintained its position atop the index as the most peaceful country in the world, while Denmark displaced Ireland to the number two spot.
New Zealand moved up two spots to fourth, Austria dropped to fifth, and Singapore moved up four places to sixth.
Portugal, Slovenia, Japan and Switzerland completed the global top ten.
In the past year, 84 countries improved, while 79 countries recorded a deterioration in peacefulness.
GPI results noted that over the last 15 years, the world has become less peaceful, with the average country score deteriorating by five percent.
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