Publications
Partners
- South Africa is less peaceful than last year, having dropped eight places to number 130.
- This is according to a report on the global state of peace ranking by the Institute of Economics and Peace.
- In sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritius is the most peaceful country, while South Sudan is the least peaceful country in the region.
- For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage.
South Africa is increasingly becoming one of the least peaceful countries in the world, according to a global report.
According to this year’s Global Peace Index (GPI), published by international think tank the Institute of Economics and Peace, South Africa is becoming less peaceful. This comes after it dropped eight places in the global state of peace ranking.
The report, which ranked 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness, indicated that South Africa is one of the 79 countries to record a deterioration in peacefulness. On the other side of the coin, 84 countries recorded an improvement in peacefulness.
Closer to home
In sub-Saharan Africa, the region recorded a slight decrease in peacefulness, with the average country score deteriorating by 0.57%. Of the 44 countries, 22 deteriorated, while 21 improved.
The region has also reported less peacefulness than the global average on the Safety and Security and Ongoing Conflict domains, but is more peaceful than the global average on the Militarisation domain.
"The overall deterioration in score in sub-Saharan Africa was driven by increases in both the internal conflicts fought and the external conflicts fought indicators, as well as a rise in violent demonstrations," said the report.
Currently, Mauritius is the most peaceful country in the region, ranked 23rd in the 2023 GPI. On the other hand, South Sudan remains the least peaceful country in the region and one of the least peaceful countries globally due to ongoing conflict.
"The country continues to have high levels of internal conflicts, with internal conflicts fought and deaths from internal conflict both deteriorating over the past year,” said the report.
At 5.4%, Mali recorded the largest deterioration in peacefulness in the region, the fourth-largest deterioration of any country on the 2023 GPI.
Economic cost of conflict
In terms of the economic impact of violence, South Africa takes 15th place in the ranking. In 2021, violence set South Africa back by $118.9 billion and cost the country $176.5 billion in 2022.
International affairs
Further afield, Iceland remained the most peaceful country in the world, a title the country has held since 2009. According to the global report, the list includes countries such as Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Austria.
At the bottom of the global list is Afghanistan, deemed the least peaceful country in the world for eight consecutive years. Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo follow on the list.
"All these countries in both groups, other than Ireland, have always been ranked amongst the ten most peaceful or least peaceful countries, highlighting the stickiness of peacefulness at both ends of the Index," said the report.
This story has been updated to correct an error stipulating that South Africa dropped eight places to number 156 in the ranking when the correct figure is 130.
