In 2017, 23 indicators were used to establish peacefulness scores for each country. The indicators were originally selected with the assistance of an expert panel in 2007 and are reviewed by the expert panel on an annual basis. The scores for each indicator are normalised on a scale of 1–5, whereby qualitative indicators are banded into five groupings, and quantitative ones are scored from 1–5, to the third decimal point. A table of the indicators is below.8 In the table, UCDP stands for the Uppsala Conflict Data Program maintained by the University of Uppsala in Sweden, EIU for The Economist Intelligence Unit, UNSCT for the United Nations Survey of Criminal Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, ICPS is the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College London, IISS for the International Institute for Strategic Studies publication The Military Balance, and SIPRI for the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Arms Transfers Database.
Indicators not already ranked on a 1 to 5 scale were converted by using the following formula: x = [x - min(x)] / [max(x) - min(x)], where max(x) and min(x) are the highest and lowest values for that indicator of the countries ranked in the index. The 0 to 1 scores that resulted were then converted to the 1 to 5 scale. Individual indicators were then weighted according to the expert panel's judgment of their importance. The scores were then tabulated into two weighted sub-indices: internal peace, weighted at 60% of a country's final score, and external peace, weighted at 40% of a country's final score. "Negative Peace", defined as the absence of violence or of the fear of violence, is used as the definition of peace to create the Global Peace Index. An additional aim of the GPI database is to facilitate deeper study of the concept of positive peace, or those attitudes, institutions, and structures that drive peacefulness in society. The GPI also examines relationships between peace and reliable international measures, including democracy and transparency, education and material well-being. As such, it seeks to understand the relative importance of a range of potential determinants, or "drivers", which may influence the nurturing of peaceful societies, both internally and externally.14
Statistical analysis is applied to GPI data to uncover specific conditions conducive of peace. Researchers have determined that Positive Peace, which includes the attitudes, institutions, and structures that pre-empt conflict and facilitate functional societies, is the main driver of peace. The eight pillars of positive peace are well-functioning government, sound business environment, acceptance of the rights of others, good relations with neighbours, free flow of information, high levels of human capital, low levels of corruption, and equitable distribution of resources. Well-functioning government, low levels of corruption, acceptance of the rights of others, and good relations with neighbours are more important in countries suffering from high levels of violence. Free flow of information and sound business environment become more important when a country is approaching the global average level of peacefulness, also described as the Mid-Peace level. Low levels of corruption is the only Pillar that is strongly significant across all three levels of peacefulness. This suggests it is an important transformational factor at all stages of a nation's development.
Note: The GPI's methodology is updated regularly and is improved to reflect the most up-to-date datasets. Each year's GPI report includes a detailed description of the methodology used. Also, the data is revised periodically and so values from previous years may change accordingly.These tables contain the scores and ranking published in the official annual reports, for the latest revised data please visit the Interactive world map of the Global Peace Index Archived 2022-07-16 at the Wayback Machine.
The Index has received endorsements as a political project from a number of major international figures, including the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan; former President of Finland and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari; the Dalai Lama; Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Muhammad Yunus; and former United States President Jimmy Carter.16
Jeffrey Sachs at Columbia University said: "The GPI continues its pioneering work in drawing the world's attention to the massive resources we are squandering in violence and conflict."17 Some at Australian National University say that the GPI report presents "the latest and most comprehensive global data on trends in peace, violence and war" and "provides the world's best analysis of the statistical factors associated with long-term peace, as well as economic analysis on the macroeconomic impacts of everyday violence and war on the global economy."18
According to The Economist, the weighting of military expenditure "may seem to give heart to freeloaders: countries that enjoy peace precisely because others (often the USA) care for their defence".19 The Global Peace Index has been criticized for not including indicators specifically relating to violence against women and children.20 The impact of Global Peace Index has been lower on the academic study of war and peace than on international organizations.21
Institute for Economics & Peace. "Global Peace Index 2017" (PDF). visionofhumanity.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2017-11-27. /wiki/Institute_for_Economics_%26_Peace ↩
Wang, Monica. "The World's Most And Least Peaceful Countries In 2016". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2017-11-26. https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicawang/2016/06/17/the-worlds-most-and-least-peaceful-countries-in-2016/#24c9f81a644f ↩
"Global Peace Index". https://www.economicsandpeace.org/global-peace-index/#:~:text=Produced%20by%20the%20Institute%20for,how%20to%20develop%20peaceful%20societies ↩
"'Peacefulness' Is Down Globally. These Are the 10 Most – and Least – Peaceful Countries". U.S. News & World Report. 2024-06-11. Retrieved 2024-08-23. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2024-06-11/as-peace-falls-globally-which-countries-are-the-most-and-least-peaceful ↩
"Global Peace Index 2023" (PDF). Institute for Economics & Peace. June 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023. https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GPI-2023-Web.pdf ↩
"INDEX", The Christology of Erasmus, Catholic University of America Press, pp. 293–302, 2024-01-26, doi:10.2307/jj.10677887.15, ISBN 978-0-8132-3803-6, retrieved 2024-06-17 978-0-8132-3803-6 ↩
Information about indicators and methodology "2013 Global Peace Index"(PDF). Institute for Economics and Peace. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2013-06-24. ↩
In this case, a conflict is defined as, "a contested incompatibility that concerns government and/or territory where the use of armed force between two parties, of which at least one is the government of a state, results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in a year." ↩
Excludes militia and national guard forces. ↩
This includes, "cash outlays of central or federal government to meet the costs of national armed forces—including strategic, land, naval, air, command, administration and support forces as well as paramilitary forces, customs forces and border guards if these are trained and equipped as a military force." ↩
This includes transfers, purchases, or gifts of aircraft, armoured vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, ships, engines ↩
Rates the destructive capability of a country's stock of heavy weapons via a categorized system. As of 2013, countries with nuclear capabilities receive a score of five, the highest possible score. ↩
Institute for Economics and Peace. "Global Peace Index Report, Methodology, pg. 113–136" (PDF). Visionofhumanity.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2017-11-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20190401040211/http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2017/06/GPI17-Report.pdf ↩
"2024 Global Peace Index" (PDF). Institute for Economics & Peace. Institute for Economics & Peace. June 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-08-19. Retrieved 2024-07-02. https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf ↩
Endorsers for GPI — Vision of Humanity. Retrieved 2013-08-16. ↩
"Global Peace Index: World Less Peaceful in 2010 Report, Violence Impacting Global Economy $7 Trillion Annually". Phil's Stock World. Retrieved 2017-11-27. http://www.philstockworld.com/2010/06/08/global-peace-index-world-less-peaceful-in-2010-report-violence-impacting-global-economy-7-trillion-annually/ ↩
"Giving peace a chance? 2017 Global Peace Index". ANU. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2017-11-27. http://www.anu.edu.au/events/giving-peace-a-chance-2017-global-peace-index ↩
"Give peace a rating". The Economist. 2007-05-31. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2017-11-27. http://www.economist.com/node/9266967 ↩
"Dark underbelly of the world's most 'peaceful' countries". Christian Science Monitor. 2007-07-26. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2017-11-27. https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0726/p09s01-coop.html ↩
Firchow, Pamina; Ginty, Roger Mac (2017). "Measuring Peace: Comparability, Commensurability, and Complementarity Using Bottom-Up Indicators". International Studies Review. 19: 6–27. doi:10.1093/isr/vix001. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/vix001 ↩