Qatar has been ranked as the most peaceful nation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to latest Global Peace Index report .
Qatar has been ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa region from 2009 to 2017.
Qatar secured the 30th position out of 163 countries ranked in the report, five places up from the previous year. Meanwhile, the world has become more peaceful, with 93 countries recording higher levels of peace while 68 deteriorated compared to last year. Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world and has been topping the chart since 2008. New Zealand and Portugal came next, pushing Austria and Denmark down in the ranking.
The MENA region continues to be the least peaceful region.”Although this year’s uptick is reassuring, the world is still mired with conflict in the Middle East, political turmoil in the US, refugee flows and terrorism in Europe,” said Steve Killelea, founder and executive chairman of the Institute for Economic and Peace think-tank which produced the index.
“When combined with the increasing level of peace inequality, whereby the least peaceful countries are moving further apart from the most peaceful, the resulting scenario is one in which further improvements in peace are not guaranteed.” The global economic impact of violence is estimated to be approximately $14.3 trillion, equivalent to more than $1,900 for every person in the world.
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