Regional Overview.

Seven of the eight GPI regions deteriorated in peacefulness in 2025. South America was the only region to improve on average over the past year, although it remains considerably less peaceful than it was at the inception of the index in 2008.

South Asia recorded the largest average deterioration of all the regions, with significant falls in peacefulness in both Bangladesh and Pakistan. Figure 1.3 shows the overall score for each region on the 2025 GPI, as well as the change in score since the 2024 GPI.

ASIA PACIFIC REGION.

The Asia-Pacific region recorded a slight deterioration in peacefulness on the 2025 GPI, with the overall score deteriorating 0.21 per cent. However, it remains the second most peaceful region in the world, a position it has held since 2017. The decline in peacefulness was driven by a 1.1 per cent deterioration on the Ongoing Conflict domain and a 0.4 per cent increase on the Militarisation domain. The Safety and Security domain was the only domain to improve, due to substantial improvements on the perceptions of criminality and political terror scale indicators. Overall, ten out of 19 countries recorded deteriorations, with only nine countries improving. New Zealand is the most peaceful country in the region and is ranked third globally on the 2025 GPI. It recorded an improvement in peacefulness over the past year of 3.1 per cent, with just two indicators deteriorating: weapons imports and military expenditure (% GDP). In recent years, New Zealand’s Defence Force (NZDF) has faced problems relating to the retention of personnel and the state of its partially outdated navy and air force.1 In order to remedy these issues, the budget for the NZDF has been increased, leading to a deterioration in the Militarisation domain.2 New Zealand’s score on the Ongoing Conflict domain improved by 0.89 per cent and the Safety and Security domain improved by 7.6 per cent, mainly due to improvements on violent demonstrations and terrorism impact. Myanmar is the least peaceful country in the Asia-Pacific region and recorded the region’s worst deterioration in 2025, driven by deteriorations on all three domains. The violent crime score remains elevated due to civil unrest, armed conflict and intensified military attacks. Myanmar’s political stability deteriorated as armed conflicts eroded the control of the country’s military junta government, pushing it to reinstate conscription. An extension of the junta’s mandate and planned 2025 elections further fuelled political uncertainty. It has been reported that there have been over 5,350 civilian deaths since a coup that took place in the country in 2021, including 2,414 between April 2023 and June 2024. Additionally, Myanmar became the world’s largest producer of synthetic drugs, bolstering organised crime networks within the country. North Korea is the second least peaceful country in the region, although it recorded a slight improvement in peacefulness on the 2025 GPI, and is now ranked ahead of Myanmar. Prior to this year, North Korea had been the least peaceful country in the region each year since the inception of the GPI. North Korea is the world’s third most militarised country, with the highest possible score on the nuclear and heavy weapons, military expenditure (% GDP) and armed services personnel rate indicators. Indonesia recorded the largest improvement in overall peacefulness in the region, with peacefulness improving by 2.9 per cent over the past year. Eleven of the indicators improved, four deteriorated, and eight went unchanged. The Safety and Security and the Militarisation domains each improved to a similar degree, while the Ongoing Conflict domain had a smaller deterioration. The indicators that drove the overall improvement in peacefulness were improvements in UN peacekeeping funding, weapons exports and political terror scale. The country has also had significant success in combatting jihadist terrorism in the past five years and has not experienced a terrorist attack outside of the West Papua region for the past three years

EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

The Eastern Europe and Central Asia region experienced the second largest deterioration of any region on the 2025 GPI, with the average level of peacefulness in the region deteriorating by 0.77 per cent. Overall levels of peacefulness in the region remain low, mainly driven by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Eight countries registered improvements, six registered deteriorations, and one remained unchanged. All three domains recorded deteriorations in the past year, the most significant being in the Ongoing Conflict domain. The dominant issue in the region remains the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which led to significant deteriorations in peacefulness in both countries. Russia and Ukraine are ranked as the least and second least peaceful countries in the world on the 2025 GPI. With no immediate end to the conflict in sight, it is likely that Russia and Ukraine will remain two of the least peaceful countries in the world for the foreseeable future. Russia is now the least peaceful country in the world on the 2025 GPI and recorded the second largest deterioration in the region, behind Ukraine. Russia ranked as the 163rd country on the Ongoing Conflict domain. Its overall level of peacefulness deteriorated by 6.5 per cent in the past year. The Safety and Security domain and the Ongoing Conflict domain deteriorated, while the Militarisation domain improved solely due to a decrease on the weapons exports indicator. The deaths from internal conflict indicator increased as a result of the Kursk offensive by Ukrainian troops in August 2024. This marked the first significant combat operation within Russia’s borders since the onset of the conflict. Ukraine recorded the largest deterioration in overall peacefulness in the region in the past year. It ranks as the second least peaceful country in the region and in the world on the 2025 GPI. In addition to its ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukraine experienced a significant rise in other forms of internal violence, driven in part by stresses and deprivations associated with the war. Domestic violence cases surged in 2024, with over 291,000 incidents reported, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year. Additionally, organised crime activities intensified, including increased arms trafficking and gangrelated violence. The proliferation of firearms from the conflict zone contributed to these trends, exacerbating public safety concerns. Bulgaria is the most peaceful country in the region. Although the overall peacefulness score remained unchanged, several indicators had significant changes, with the violent demonstrations and military expenditure indicators deteriorating, while perceptions of criminality and nuclear and heavy weapons improved. The October 2024 national election was followed by reports of vote-count irregularities, disputed results and protests. In March 2025, the results were declared illegitimate. The increase in violent demonstrations was also driven by protests in early 2025 against the country’s plan to adopt the euro as its national currency. Azerbaijan recorded the largest improvement in peacefulness in the region. Its overall score improved by 5.4 per cent, leading to a rise in the GPI rankings from 113th to 95th place. The Ongoing Conflict and Safety and Security domains recorded improvements, while the Militarisation domain deteriorated. The Onggoing Conflict domain recorded the largest improvement, driven by the deaths from internal conflict and the deaths from external conflict indicators both improving by 100 per cent. These drops in conflict deaths were likely caused by the cessation of active hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2023-2024.

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains the least peaceful region in the world for the tenth consecutive year. It recorded a small deterioration in peacefulness over the past year, as its average GPI score deteriorated by 0.17 per cent. Four of the ten least peaceful countries on the 2025 GPI are in the MENA region. The largest fall in peacefulness occurred on the Ongoing Conflict domain, which deteriorated by 0.8 per cent. There were deteriorations on the deaths from internal conflict, deaths from external conflict, and internal conflicts fought indicators, driven by the ongoing conflicts in Palestine, Sudan, and Syria and the associated increase in regional unrest. Tensions in the region remain extremely high as of early 2025. The Militarisation domain recorded a small improvement, although there was a significant deterioration on the military expenditure indicator, with the MENA region having the highest average level of relative military expenditure in the world. The most notable falls in peacefulness in the region occurred because of the war in Gaza that erupted after the Hamas attack in Israel on 7 October 2023. Latest estimates suggest that over 63,750 people have been killed in this conflict, although some estimates suggest that the death toll is likely to be far higher.6 The conflict has also thrown the entire region into crisis, with Syria, Iran, Lebanon and Yemen all becoming involved to varying degrees. In early March 2025, all humanitarian aid was blocked from entering Gaza, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian crisis.

Qatar is the most peaceful country in the MENA region, and the 27th most peaceful country overall. It is one of the three countries in the region that is ranked among the 50 most peaceful countries in the world. However, it recorded a 0.99 per cent deterioration in overall peacefulness in the past year. This was driven by a deterioration on the Safety and Security domain, because of deteriorating political instability. Political uncertainty increased after a constitutional referendum abolished legislative elections. Sudan is the least peaceful country in the region and ranks as the third least peaceful country overall on the 2025 GPI. Peacefulness in Sudan fell by 0.54 per cent over the past year, owing to substantial deteriorations on the nuclear and heavy weapons, refugees and IDP and internal conflicts fought indicators. Additionally, violent crime deteriorated largely due to the ongoing civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Conflict broke out in April 2023 between the SAF and RSF after a plan was proposed to dissolve the RSF and integrate it with the army. The armed conflict has led to the displacement of millions of people, with an estimated 6,800 deaths from internal conflict recorded in 2024. The increasing civil unrest and lawlessness has meant that humanitarian agencies and multilateral organisations are unable to safely operate in most locations, including in the capital city of Khartoum. Saudi Arabia recorded the largest improvement in peacefulness in the region, with improvements recorded across all three GPI domains. The primary driver of the improvement in peacefulness was a decrease on deaths from internal conflict, which recorded an improvement of 100 per cent. Political stability improved as the government’s Vision 2030 reforms and diplomatic outreach strengthened governance and regional cooperation. The country has restored ties with Lebanon and Iran, and it has served as a mediating party in some international conflicts amid the substantial geopolitical tensions in the region. Syria recorded the largest deterioration in peacefulness in the  region and ranks in the ten least peaceful countries in the world on the 2025 GPI. The decline in peacefulness over the past year was driven by deteriorations on the Ongoing Conflict domain and the Safety and Security domain. Violent demonstrations significantly increased, as did deaths from internal conflict. Recent figures estimate that since 2011, more than 14 million Syrians have fled the country and 70 per cent of the population needs humanitarian aid. In December 2024, the government of Bashar al-Assad was overthrown after 24 years of rule. Since then, more than one million Syrians have returned to Syria.8 A new transitional government was sworn into power at the end of March 2025. During the change of government, tensions rose and fighting broke out over control of the Syria-Lebanese border, but a ceasefire agreement between the two parties was reached on 17 March 2025.

CENTRAL AND NORTH AMERICA

Central and North America is the third most peaceful region in the 2025 GPI, behind Western and Central Europe and AsiaPacific. However, although the Safety and Security and the Militarisation domains improved, the Ongoing Conflict domain deteriorated, driving an overall 0.7 per cent reduction in peacefulness in this region. Overall, five countries improved and nine deteriorated. There is a large disparity between the most and least peaceful country in the region, as Canada is ranked as the 14th most peaceful country and Haiti is ranked 141st. While Canada is the most peaceful country in the region, it also recorded the region’s largest deterioration in overall peacefulness over the past year, deteriorating by 5.8 per cent. Three indicators recorded significant deteriorations: violent crime, neighbouring countries relations and military expenditure (% GDP). Political tensions have intensified between Canada and the United States under the second Trump administration. The US applied a 25 per cent blanket import tariff on Canadian goods and a lower 10 per cent rate to Canadian energy products. In response, Canada has applied limited tariffs of 10 to 15 per cent on a range of US goods. Violent crime deteriorated over the past year, with notable increases in extortion, robbery and assaults involving weapons or bodily harm. Since 2014, violent crime rates have risen by 43.8 per cent. However, despite these deteriorations, Canada remains one of the more peaceful countries in the world, with some of the highest levels of peacefulness on both the Militarisation and Ongoing Conflict domains. Haiti is the least peaceful country in Central and North America. However, it recorded the largest improvement in overall peacefulness in the region in the past year, with its overall score improving 1.5 per cent. The country recorded improvements in the Militarisation and Safety and Security domains, while the Ongoing Conflict domain deteriorated. Four indicators improved, five deteriorated and 14 saw no change in the past year. Haiti has been in a state of crisis since 2021, when president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. Rates of violent crime have soared amid rampant gang activity. However, Haiti's political instability improved in the past year due to the establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council in April 2024, to oversee governance until elections in 2026. Additionally, the UN, led by Kenyan peacekeeping forces, helped curb escalating gang violence that had previously paralysed economic activities and displaced over 700,000 people. These combined efforts have contributed to a modest stabilisation in Haiti's political landscape. 

SOUTH AMERICA

South America was the only region to experience an improvement in peacefulness on the 2025 GPI, with the average level of peacefulness improving by 0.59 per cent. South America is now the fourth most peaceful region globally. Eight out of the 11 countries in the region improved, while three recorded deteriorations. The rise in peacefulness in the region was driven by improvements on the Safety and Security and Militarisation domains, with the largest changes occurring on the violent demonstrations, political instability and intensity of internal conflict indicators. Argentina is the most peaceful country in the region and recorded an improvement in peacefulness of 3.8 per cent over the past year. The only indicator that recorded a deterioration was UN peacekeeping funding. Risks to political instability remained contained as austerity measures under President Javier Milei did not trigger mass protests or unrest to the level that was previously feared. Improving economic indicators, including rapidly falling inflation and unemployment, also helped limit risks to political stability. The economic recovery that began in the second half of 2024 helped reduce fallout from fiscal consolidation efforts. Colombia remains the least peaceful country in South America for the fifth consecutive year. Although the Ongoing Conflict domain deteriorated, there were improvements on the Militarisation and the Safety and Security domains, which led to an overall rise in peacefulness of 0.55 per cent. Colombia's improved political stability was driven by the government’s reforms aimed at reducing inequality and enhancing social inclusion. Key reforms included a comprehensive pension overhaul in June 2024, which expanded coverage and improved benefits for the elderly, and progressive tax reforms. New land laws introduced late in 2024 aim to provide greater land security and access to small and marginalised farmers, which is expected to support rural development and reduce land-related conflicts. These efforts reduced social unrest and stabilised the political climate by addressing long-standing economic disparities. Despite these improvements, Colombia still has a very high homicide rate and a high number of refugees and internally displaced people. Additionally, deaths from internal conflict rose sharply over the past year, from 434 in 2023 to 933 in 2024. Peru recorded the largest improvement in peacefulness in the region. In 2025, Peru’s GPI score improved by 4.4 per cent, mainly driven by a 15.6 per cent improvement on the Ongoing Conflict domain. The Militarisation domain saw a deterioration as four out of the six indicators increased, one decreased and one remained unchanged. Although political unrest remains high, in contrast to 2022 and 2023, there were no large-scale public protests demanding the resignation of the president. This led to significant reductions in social unrest compared to years prior. Although there were some sporadic, small-scale demonstrations against the government, these were not severely repressed by security forces as in previous years. Political stability in Peru improved as economic recovery and institutional reforms strengthened governance. Additionally, security crackdowns on organised crime further reinforced stability. Venezuela recorded the largest deterioration in the region in the past year. All three domains deteriorated, resulting in a two per cent reduction in overall peacefulness. Deaths from internal conflict rose from 15 in 2023 to 37 in 2024, with political instability also deteriorating, owing to the contentious presidential election held in July last year. Allegations of electoral fraud and government repression fuelled nationwide protests and opposition candidate Edmundo González rejected the official results declaring Nicolás Maduro the winner, deepening political uncertainty. 

SOUTH ASIA

South Asia is the second least peaceful region on the 2025 GPI. It experienced a fall in peacefulness over the past year, with four of the seven countries in the region recording deteriorations in

overall score. All three domains deteriorated, with the largest change on the Ongoing Conflict domain, with a 4.9 per cent increase due to none of the indicators in this domain improving in the past year. Afghanistan is the least peaceful country in the region, a position it has held since the inception of the GPI. Afghanistan ranks as the fifth least peaceful country in the world and has the lowest ranking globally on the Safety and Security domain. In the past year, peacefulness in Afghanistan deteriorated by 0.28 per cent. Afghanistan is the only country in the South Asia region to have the worst possible scores on the access to small arms, violent crimes, political instability, political terror scale, refugees and IDPs and military expenditure (% GDP) indicators. Although the level of conflict in Afghanistan has fallen since the Taliban came to power, poor governance and humanitarian crises are fuelling political unrest. In March 2025, the World Health Organization in Afghanistan warned that funding shortages may cause 80 per cent of the agency’s health services there to close by June, exacerbating the health crisis already present in the country.11 Nepal recorded the largest improvement in overall peacefulness in South Asia, reversing the deterioration in peacefulness that was seen in the prior year. The improvement over the past year was mainly driven by an improvement on the Militarisation domain, particularly due to a decline on weapons imports and improved UN peacekeeping funding. Additionally, the terrorism impact indicator recorded a substantial improvement over the past year. Nepal has been increasing its focus on counterterrorism in recent years, conducting joint military exercises with India from late December 2024 to early January 2025 that focused on counterterrorism, jungle warfare and operational skills.12 Bangladesh recorded the largest deterioration in peacefulness of any country in the region and of any country on the 2025 GPI, registering a 13 per cent reduction in overall peacefulness. It recorded deteriorations on all domains, with the largest occurring on the Ongoing Conflict domain. There were 436 deaths from internal conflicts, as compared to just 12 in the previous year. Internal conflict in Bangladesh escalated as student-led protests over government job quotas continued, despite a Supreme Court ruling reducing them. Bangladesh experienced a significant escalation in violent crime and political instability. Attacks on minority communities also escalated, with over 2,010 incidents recorded in August 2024. Political violence surged, with an estimated 1,400 deaths linked to clashes involving security forces and political groups. Allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings further undermined public trust in law enforcement. Bangladesh’s political stability deteriorated in 2024 due to rising risks of social unrest, opposition fragmentation, and security crackdowns. Weeks of street protests, an opposition walk-out, and a ruling-coalition split forced Bangladesh’s president to oust the prime minister and draft Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus as caretaker of an interim government. Yunus must now pacify feuding parties and student groups, steady an economy strained by forex shortages and food inflation, and rebuild trust in a partisan election commission. High living costs and the interim government’s inaction have fuelled mass protest risks, while uncertainty over the election timeline has deepened instability. India is the largest and most populous country in the South Asia region and the world. Its overall level of peacefulness improved by 0.58 per cent over the past year, with nine indicators improving, nine remaining the same and three deteriorating. Political instability improved slightly following India's 2024 general elections, with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition forming a government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) losing its majority. Modi’s third term and coalition stability reduced social unrest risks, while troop disengagement with China eased geopolitical tensions. However, tensions between India and Pakistan escalated to concerning levels in April 2025, following a terrorist attack in the disputed Kashmir region that resulted in the deaths of 25 Indian tourists. This attack falls outside of the measurement period of the 2025 GPI and will be captured in next year’s report. Although tensions in the region have been high in the region since an insurgency began in 1989, the violence rarely targeted civilians directly. 

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded a deterioration in peacefulness, with the average score in the region deteriorating by 0.17 per cent over the past year. Half of the countries in this region improved in overall peacefulness while the other half deteriorated. Three of the ten least peaceful countries in the world are found in this region. Sub-Saharan African faces several security crises, most notably the increase in political unrest and terrorism in the Central Sahel region. Burkina Faso has the highest terrorism impact in the world, and six of the ten countries with the highest terrorism impact are in sub-Saharan Africa. The Militarisation and Ongoing Conflict domains deteriorated while the Safety and Security domain saw an improvement over the past year. Conflicts in the region continued to spill across national borders, reflected by a deterioration on the external conflicts fought indicator. In the past five years, 36 of the 44 countries in the region have had some level of involvement in at least one external conflict. Mauritius is the most peaceful country in sub-Saharan Africa for the 18th consecutive year. It recorded a small deterioration in overall peacefulness of 1.5 per cent, owing to deteriorations in the Militarisation and Safety and Security domains. Mauritius is also the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that has not been involved in any internal or external conflicts over the past six years. Mauritius’s political stability improved in the past year following a smooth transition of power after the opposition’s landslide victory. The peaceful handover reinforced democratic institutions, while steady economic growth and a strong tourism sector further supported stability. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the least peaceful country in the region and also recorded the region’s largest deterioration in overall peacefulness. The DRC ranks in the five least peaceful countries in the world in the 2025 GPI. Over the past year, the country recorded deteriorations in all three GPI domains and an overall reduction of peacefulness of 4.5 per cent. The country is currently engaged in a war with the March 23 Movement (M23), which is said to be supported by Rwandan forces. The UN estimates that there are between 3,000-4,000 Rwandan troops currently operating in the DRC, fighting alongside M23 rebels against government forces. Uganda recorded the largest improvement in peacefulness in the region due to improvements in all three domains. The Militarisation domain recorded a substantial improvement of 11.7 per cent, the highest of the three domains. The deaths from internal conflict indicator saw a notable improvement; after having jumped to 74 deaths in 2023, it declined to four in the past year. A potential reason for this improvement is the intensified operations against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) by Uganda’s Ministry of Defence.

 WESTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE

Western and Central Europe remains the most peaceful region in the world on the 2025 GPI and is home to eight of the ten most peaceful countries in the world. However, it recorded a deterioration in peacefulness of 0.57 per cent over the past year. Of the 33 countries in the region, 13 improved in peacefulness, 19 deteriorated, and one remained unchanged. The driver of the fall in peacefulness in this region was a deterioration on the Militarisation domain. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to many European countries reassessing their level of military spending and general combat readiness, with 24 of the 33 countries in this region recording a deterioration on this domain over the past year. The Ongoing Conflict and Safety and Security domains both improved slightly. Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the region and the world on the 2025 GPI. It recorded a two per cent improvement in overall peacefulness over the past year as only one indicator deteriorated: military expenditure (% GDP). Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world by a considerable margin, with the gap in peacefulness between the first two countries on the 2025 GPI being the same size as the gap between the second and 10th ranked countries. France is the least peaceful country in the region and has the highest levels of Militarisation of any country in Western and Central Europe. France’s political stability declined in the past year due to a fragmented parliamentary election and government deadlock. President Emmanuel Macron’s dissolution of the country’s National Assembly led to a hung parliament, and Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government collapsed after a no-confidence vote. Rising public debt and economic uncertainty further weakened confidence, exacerbating political instability. Montenegro recorded the largest improvement in the region, with its overall score improving by 2.3 per cent in the past year. This was primarily driven by an improvement in the Safety and Security domain, as the homicide rate indicator and the political terror scale indicator improved by 69.7 and 25 per cent, respectively. The homicide rate is 0.8 per 100,000 people, a record-low for Montenegro. In October 2024, a regional initiative to reduce illicit weapons possession – the Western Balkans Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Control Roadmap – was endorsed for a second phase following the success of the original Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap, which was adopted in 2018 and set goals to be achieved by 2024. Norway experienced the largest deterioration in peacefulness in the region, which was primarily caused by a substantial deterioration on the Militarisation domain. The military expenditure (% GDP) indicator deteriorated by 31.1 per cent and the weapons exports indicator deteriorated by 145 per cent. In 2024, the government unanimously adopted a new long-term defence strategy that will substantially increase the total defence budget over the next 12 years.15 The Safety and Security domain saw a slight improvement of 0.08 per cent while all the indicators in the Ongoing Conflict domain had no change. Despite its fall in overall peacefulness, Norway has the second most peaceful ranking in the world on the Safety and Security domain.