Global Peace Index: Czech Republic among the world's most peaceful countries

According to the Global Peace Index (GPI) released Wednesday, Czechia is the eighth most peaceful country in the world — however, the new report spells out an uncertain future for world peace.

The Czech Republic jumped two positions compared to last year.

Iceland once again sits at the top of the rankings as the world’s most peaceful country followed by New Zealand and Portugal, Austria, and Denmark (also comprising last year’s top 5). Afghanistan is the least peaceful followed by Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, and Yemen. The U.S. edged out Russia in 121st place.

The GPI is published annually by the British Institute for Economy and Peace (IEP) and ranks countries according to how peaceful they are.

Countries are scored according to 23 different indicators including crime rates, arms availability, military size and armaments, contributions to UN peacekeeping missions, relations with neighboring countries, peacekeeping demonstrations, political pressure on citizens, and participation in foreign conflicts.

According to the authors of the study, “the 2020 GPI reveals a world in which the conflicts and crises that emerged in the past decade have begun to abate, only to be replaced with a new wave of tension and uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Significant patterns in this year’s analysis indicate that the overall level of peacefulness has fallen for the ninth time in 12 years with the average level of global peacefulness down 2.5% since 2008.

The most peaceful region is again Europe, which has 13 representatives among the top 20 countries. The Czech Republic scored well in the area of “Societal Safety and Security domain.”