Iceland has topped a list of the world’s safest countries to live and travel in, with Ireland ranking third.
he Global Peace Index (GPI) 2022 ranks 163 of the world’s nations in terms of “peacefulness”, analysing data on their political stability, neighbouring country relations, number of refugees, internal and external conflicts, military expenditure, incarceration rates and “perceptions of criminality”, among other factors.
It’s compiled by the Institute for Economics & Peace, based in Sydney, which says: “In the past 14 years, peacefulness has fallen [overall], with the average country score deteriorating by 3.2 per cent.”
Ireland rose three places to come third this year, according to the GPI, and also ranked behind Iceland as the second most peaceful country in Europe.
Ireland’s low scores (indicating a more peaceful country) ranged across categories like homicides, organised conflict, political instability, safety and security, and neighbouring country relations.
Iceland was named the safest and most peaceful destination for its near-zero spending on defence, low crime rates and evasion of international conflict. The country has topped the list every year since the GPI began in 2008.
New Zealand placed second on the list, with Denmark and Austria completing the Top 5.
The UK came in at number 34, behind Spain (29), Canada (12) and Germany (16); while the US ranked at 129 – falling into the section of the list marked “low” for peace, following countries like Haiti (115) and Cuba (98) in the “medium” section.
At the bottom of the list were South Sudan, Russia, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Ukraine has slipped 17 places on the list this year, to number 153, following Russia’s invasion in February.
However, according to the IEP, “Europe remains the most peaceful region in the world. The region is home to four of the five most peaceful countries, and only one country in Europe is ranked outside the top half of the index.”
The Middle East was found to be the least safe and peaceful region.
The 20 safest countries in the world:
- Iceland
- New Zealand
- Ireland
- Denmark
- Austria
- Portugal
- Slovenia
- Czech Republic
- Singapore
- Japan
- Switzerland
- Canada
- Hungary
- Finland
- Croatia
- Germany
- Norway
- Malaysia
- Bhutan
- Slovakia
Read more at visionofhumanity.org.
– Additional reporting by Pól Ó Conghaile
