TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan ranked as the 40th most peaceful country out of 163, as the world faces its highest level of conflict since World War II.
The Institute for Economics and Peace's newly released 2025 Global Peace Index lists Iceland as the most peaceful country for the 17th straight year, while Russia dropped to the bottom, per Up Media. Meanwhile, China placed 98th, while the US came in at 128th.
The index evaluates countries based on 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators across three domains, including societal safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and militarization. Each indicator is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with lower scores indicating greater peace.
This year, the average level of global peacefulness declined by 0.36%. This marks the sixth consecutive year that worldwide peace has deteriorated.
The top 10 most peaceful countries are Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, and Finland. The least peaceful countries are Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Israel, and Mali.
Iceland earned a perfect score of 1.0 in the ongoing domestic and international conflict category, indicating zero involvement in such disputes. The country also stands out for its stable social system, low crime rate, minimal militarization, and high levels of public trust.
In the Asia-Pacific region, New Zealand ranked first and sixth globally with a score of 1.282. Taiwan placed 8th in the region, but dropped two spots globally from last year with a score of 1.73.
Taiwan performed best in societal safety and security, ranking 34th with a score of 1.77. The top five in this category were Iceland, Norway, Finland, Japan, and Singapore.
In ongoing domestic and international conflict, Taiwan ranked 66th with 1.62. The top performers, all scoring 1.0, were Iceland, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, and Uruguay.
For militarization, Taiwan placed 86th with a score of 1.787. The top five were Iceland, Portugal, Malaysia, Bhutan, and Ireland.
The report said that global peace is at its lowest level since the index was established, while the conditions that typically precede conflict are also at their worst. Since 2014, the level of peace worldwide has worsened every year, with 100 countries experiencing deterioration over the past decade.
Currently, there are 59 state-based conflicts ongoing, the most since the end of World War II. In 2024 alone, 152,000 people were killed in conflicts, the fourth most in the last 17 years.
Seventeen countries experienced over 1,000 conflict deaths from internal conflicts in 2024, the highest since 1999. Another 18 countries saw more than 100 conflict-related deaths.
Conflicts are becoming increasingly internationalized, with 78 countries engaged in external conflicts in 2024. That same year, the global economic impact of violence reached US$19.97 trillion in PPP terms, equivalent to 11.6% of the world's economic activity.
