The world peace index

 Institute for Economics & Peace 

The average level of country peacefulness deteriorated by 0.36 per
cent in the 2025 Global Peace Index. This is the sixth consecutive
year that global peacefulness has deteriorated.

• The average country score on the GPI has also deteriorated for 13
of the past 17 years, and has not improved on average in any year
since the 2013 GPI.

• In the past year, 74 countries recorded an improvement, while 87
countries recorded a deterioration in peacefulness. There are now
97 countries in the world that are less peaceful now than they were
at the inception of the index in 2008.

• Of the 23 GPI indicators, eight recorded an improvement, 13
recorded a deterioration, and two recorded no change over the past
year. The largest deterioration was on external conflicts fought, while
the biggest improvement was on the perceptions of criminality
indicator.

• There were 98 countries that were at least partially involved in some
form of external conflict over the past five years, up from 59 in 2008.
In most cases countries were offering support to an existing
government against armed rebels or terrorist groups.

• Military expenditure (% of GDP) recorded the second largest yearly
deterioration since the inception of the GPI. Eighty-four countries
increased their relative military expenditure, compared to just 50
where it decreased.

• There were 17 countries with over 1,000 internal conflict deaths in
2024, the highest since 1999, and a further 18 countries that
recorded over one hundred deaths in the last year.

• Europe’s current military expenditure is almost four times that of
Russia, but its combined military capacity is only one third higher.

• Global stability has deteriorated over the past 17 years, marked by
substantial increases in political instability, the number and intensity
of conflicts, deaths from conflict, and increasing geopolitical
fragmentation.

• Peace has deteriorated every year since 2014. Over this period, 100
countries deteriorated and only 62 improved.

• The gap between the most and least peaceful countries continues
to grow, with ‘peace inequality’ widening by 11.7 per cent in the past
two decades. The 25 most peaceful countries deteriorated by 0.5
per cent, while the least peaceful deteriorated by 12.2 per cent.

• Deaths from internal conflict increased by over 438 per cent in the
past 17 years, with 75 countries recording at least one conflict death
in the past year.

• Around the world, there are now over 122 million people that have
been forcibly displaced. There are now 17 countries where more
than five per cent of the population are either refugees or have been
internally displaced. The number of people forcibly displaced has
increased by over 185 per cent since the inception of the GPI.

• Eight of the ten largest weapons exporters on a per capita basis are
Western democracies, including France, Sweden, Italy, the
Netherlands, Germany and Norway.

• In the past 17 years, more countries deteriorated on violent
demonstrations than any other indicator, with 109 deteriorating and
only 23 improving. The rise of technology was a critical enabler of
global protests and mass mobilisation.

.• Global trade has plateaued at around 60 per cent of global GDP
over the past decade, following rapid growth after 1990.

• Global military spending hit a record $2.7 trillion in 2024, a nine per
cent increase from the previous year, driven largely by conflicts such
as the war in Ukraine.