If you’ve ever landed in Reykjavik at dawn, you know the feeling: the hush of a city that trusts itself. That sensation—trust, order, the absence of fear—is what the Global Peace Index (GPI) tries to measure every year. It isn’t vibes; it’s data. And in 2025, the math says the world’s peace slipped again—just a notch, but enough to notice.

Who makes the GPI—and what they measure

The Global Peace Index is compiled by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), an independent, non-partisan think tank. It ranks 163 countries and territories covering 99.7% of the world’s population. Methodologically, it blends 23 indicators across three domains:

• Societal Safety & Security
• Ongoing Domestic & International Conflict
• Militarisation

Lower score, more peace.

2025 at a glance

Global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.36% versus last year—the sixth straight annual decline. Iceland remains #1, followed by Ireland, New Zealand, Austria, and Switzerland. Western & Central Europe is still the most peaceful region; MENA remains least; South Asia posted the largest regional decline. Russia ranks last this year, with Ukraine, Sudan, DRC, and Yemen also at the bottom.

Top 10 Most Peaceful Countries (2025)

Scores (lower = more peaceful):

1. Iceland 1.095
2. Ireland 1.260
3. New Zealand 1.282
4. Austria 1.294
5. Switzerland 1.294
6. Singapore 1.357
7. Portugal 1.371
8. Denmark 1.393
9. Slovenia 1.409
10. Finland 1.420

Asia’s story in 2025

The standouts

• Singapore (#6) anchors Southeast Asia’s safe corridor. It scores strongly on Ongoing Conflict and Safety & Security—no recent conflict deaths, low violent crime, robust institutions.
• Japan (#12) remains a masterclass in day-to-day safety: very low homicide and terrorism impact, steady governance, cohesive social fabric.
• Malaysia (#13) keeps climbing, helped by improvements in perceptions of criminality and relatively low militarisation.
• Bhutan (#21) is peace by design—light militarisation, low external entanglements, strong community cohesion.
• Qatar (#27), in West Asia, pairs internal stability with state capacity, outperforming a tense neighborhood.
• Also solid: Mongolia (~#37–38), Vietnam (~#38–40), Taiwan (~#40–41), South Korea (~#41–43)—all benefiting from low conflict exposure and incremental gains in safety.

The pressure points

• Afghanistan (#158) remains South Asia’s least peaceful state and one of the worst globally, pulled down by Safety & Security metrics and persistent conflict dynamics.
• Myanmar (#153) is Asia-Pacific’s least peaceful, deteriorating across all three domains amid civil conflict, instability, and militarisation.
• North Korea (#149) stays near the bottom, among the world’s most militarised states.
• Pakistan (#144) and Bangladesh (#123) both contributed to South Asia’s decline—marked by repression, unrest, and cross-border tensions.

The signal beneath the noise

The region’s top performers share high “Positive Peace” traits: effective governance, relatively low corruption, and social trust. That doesn’t make them shock-proof—but it shortens the distance between crisis and recovery. The laggards, by contrast, sit at the intersection of conflict exposure, heavy militarisation, and brittle politics.

Why it matters

For travelers, investors, and policymakers, the GPI is a risk weather map. In Asia, Singapore and Japan remain safe harbors; Malaysia and Bhutan are steadying stories worth watching. The danger zones aren’t surprises—Afghanistanand Myanmar remain humanitarian and political emergencies; North Korea is conflict frozen in time. The twist of 2025 is that even as the global picture darkens, islands of calm persist. Peace isn’t headline-free; it’s institution-deep.