The rating is prepared and published annually by the Institute for Economics & Peace, an international analytical organization headquartered in Australia.
In the report for 2025, the authors state that global stability has deteriorated in recent years. This is manifested in a significant increase in political instability, the number and intensity and lethality of conflicts, strengthening geopolitical fragmentation. And the starting point for this deterioration was 2014.
On a regional scale, analysts consider the Middle East and North Africa to be the least peaceful and least safe places on the planet. They are followed by South Asia. But Western and Central Europe were recognized as the most peaceful region in the world.
When compiling the list, analysts assessed countries according to several criteria: internal and external armed conflicts, crime rates, terrorist activity, violent demonstrations, relations with neighboring countries, stability of the political system, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons, military expenditures, the number of armed forces and financial contributions to UN peacekeeping missions.
In the current report, analysts counted 59 active armed conflicts at the state level, which is “the highest number since the end of World War II.”
The most peaceful countries (in descending order) are: Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Singapore, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, Finland.
The least peaceful and least secure countries were named by experts as (in descending order): Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Israel, Mali.
Romania ranks 38th in this rating.
