Global Peace Report 2025 Out: Know where India, Pakistan stand among world's most peaceful countries, check full list

Amid growing global tensions and economic uncertainty, the world has become less peaceful, according to the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2025 report by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). The report reveals that global peacefulness has dropped by 0.36 per cent over the past year, marking the highest level of decline since World War II. The report highlights a troubling trend – global peace has been falling steadily for 17 years. Since 2008, the average peace score of countries worldwide has dropped by 5.4 per cent. The widening gap between the most and least peaceful nations also reflects this decline. Over the past two decades, “peace inequality” has increased by 11.7 per cent, showing how unevenly peace is distributed across countries. Still, there is some positive news. Despite the overall drop, 74 countries improved their peace levels this year.

Once again, Iceland has been named the most peaceful country in the world – a title it has held since 2008. Other countries in the top 10 include Ireland, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Singapore, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, and Finland.

At the other end of the scale, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains the least peaceful for the 10th year in a row. The lowest-ranked countries on the list are Russia (163) and Ukraine (162), both deeply affected by their ongoing war. Other nations among the least peaceful include Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Israel, and Mali.

India’s Ranking Improves
India has shown slight progress and now ranks 115th globally, with a GPI score of 2.229, improving by 0.58 per cent compared to last year. This continues India’s upward trend over recent years – it ranked 116th in 2024, 126th in 2023, 139th in 2020, and 141st in 2019.

Although South Asia is the world’s second least peaceful region, India’s performance stands out. India did better than Bangladesh (123), Pakistan (144), and Afghanistan (158). According to the report, India improved in nine areas, while nine stayed the same and three worsened.

About the Report
The Global Peace Index ranks 163 countries and territories based on 23 indicators. These cover areas like safety and security, conflict levels, and military activity, using both numbers and expert assessments.