Pakistan’s ranking improves in Global Peace Index 2018

Pakistan has jumped up a place in the latest Global Peace Index 2018 that ranks nations around the world by how safe or unsafe they are.

The rankings are published by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Pakistan was ranked 151 out of 163 countries, an improvement of one spot as compared to last year, with the score of 3.079.

“Pakistan’s violent crime and terrorism impact scores improved – the latter for the fifth year running – reflecting the government’s success in curbing the violent activities of both criminals and militant groups, gains that also flowed through into an improvement on refugees and IDPs," the report stated.

"These gains were offset by rises in military expenditure, the incarceration rate and violent demonstrations. Mass demonstrations, many of which turned violent, are becoming the default mechanism for political and pressure groups to attempt to effect political change,” the report further read.

In South Asia, Pakistan was among the least peaceful country in the region, second only to Afghanistan that was overall ranked 162 with a score of 3.585. Meanwhile, neighboring arch-rival India also improved its ranking by one place and claimed the 136th position with score of 2.504.

The average level of global peacefulness has declined for the fourth consecutive year, falling by 0.27pc in 2017. The results of the 2018 Global Peace Index (GPI) find that 92 countries deteriorated, while only 71 improved.

Meanwhile, Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. With New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark also sit in the top five most peaceful rankings. Whereas, war-torn 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.