Each year, the Global Peace Index ranks the world’s safest and most dangerous countries and, this year, Australia has dropped in the rankings, losing our ‘very high’ peaceful rating.
The 10th edition of the global snapshot, conducted by The Institute of Economic and Peace (IEP), has revealed – perhaps unsurprisingly – that the world has become more dangerous over the past year. It’s little wonder, with conflicts raging in the Middle East and Africa, and the constant threat of terrorism across the globe.
But what is perhaps most surprising is that Australia is being seen as less safe than last year, dropping from the 10th most peaceful country in the world, with a ‘very high’ peaceful rating, down to the 15th most peaceful with a ‘high’ state of peace. We shouldn’t feel too bad about it, though – after all, ranking 15th out of 163 countries is nothing at which to scoff.
Iceland has, for the sixth year in a row, been rated the most peaceful country in the world. Denmark, Austria, New Zealand and Portugal make up the top five safest countries.
It probably won’t raise any eyebrows to learn that Syria has been rated the world’s most dangerous country, considering it is being devastated by the deadliest civil war seen in this millennia. The rest of the top five most dangerous countries are South Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Even though terror activities mainly occur in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, only 23 per cent of ranked countries did not experience a terrorist incident last year.
Europe was once again rated as the most peaceful region in the world, although its score was affected by the attacks in Paris and Brussels.
The report also showed that the number of refugees and displaced persons has doubled since 2007 to approximately 60 million people – almost one per cent of the world’s population.
Read more at www.visionofhumanity.org
Would these rankings prevent you from travelling to any of these countries? Do you think Australia has become more violent during the past year?
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