World increasingly divided by war and peace

The 2015 Global Peace Index reveals a divided world, with the most peaceful countries enjoying increasing levels of peace and prosperity, while the least peaceful countries spiral into violence and conflict
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GLOBAL PEACE INDEX: Level of peace in each country measured by amount of military spending, crime, conflict and internal security

SELECTED RESULTS: Rank, country, score (Higher scores = more violence)

Very high

High 

Medium 

Low 

Very Low 

Not included

1 Iceland 1.148

2 Denmark 1.150

3 Austria 1.198

4 New Zealand 1.221

5 Switzerland 1.275

6 Finland 1.277

7 Canada 1.287

8 Japan 1.322

9 Australia 1.329

10 Czech Rep. 1.341

16 Germany 1.379

20 Netherlands 1.432

21 Spain 1.451

36 Italy 1.669

39 UK 1.685

45 France 1.742

94 U.S. 2.038

103 Brazil 2.122

124 China 2.267

135 Turkey 2.363

143 India 2.504

151 Nigeria 2.910

152 Russia 2.954

156 Sudan 3.295

157 Somalia 3.307

158 C.A.R. 3.332

159 S. Sudan 3.383

160 Afghanistan 3.427

161 Iraq 3.444

162 Syria 3.645
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1 in 130 Proportion of global population who are now refugees or internally displaced (IDPs) – mainly due to conflicts in Middle East (highest level since 1945)

180,000 People killed in conflict in 2014 (up from 49,000 in 2010)

20,000 People killed by terrorism in 2014 (nine percent increase)

$14.3 trillion Worldwide cost of violence in past year (or 13.4% of global GDP – equivalent to combined economies of Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and UK)
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Sources: Institute for Economics and Peace, wire agencies

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