Cyprus 62nd safest country in the world, Nigeria and Turkey 148 and 149 respectively

Cyprus is the 62nd safest country in the world, Nigeria 148 and Turkey 149 according to the Global Peace Index 2018 (GPI), published by the World Economic Forum.

Cyprus ranks 62nd in a total of 163 countries, moving up three places compared to the GPI 2017.

This is the twelfth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness.

Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. 

New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark also sit in the top five most peaceful rankings. Syria remains the least peaceful country in the world, a position it has held for the past five years. 

Afghanistan, South Sudan, Iraq and Somalia comprise the remaining least peaceful countries. 

Europe, the world’s most peaceful region, recorded a deterioration for the third straight year. It deteriorated across all three GPI domains and eleven indicators, most notably on the intensity of internal conflict and relations with neighbouring countries.

For the first time in the history of the index, a Western European country experienced one of the five largest deteriorations, with Spain falling 10 places in the rankings to 30th, owing to internal political tensions and an increase in the impact of terrorism.

The GPI gauges global peace using three broad themes: the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarization. Factors are both internal such as levels of violence and crime within the country and external such as military expenditure and wars.