The world is a little more peaceful than it was a year ago. The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) found that the world became 0.28% more peaceful in the past year. The IEP has reported on world peace for 10 years. Every year, it publishes its Global Peace Index (GPI). This ranks 163 countries and territories on how peaceful they are. It also gives advice on how to be peaceful. Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world. It has been number one since 2008. The next four most peaceful countries are New Zealand, Portugal, Austria and Denmark.
The report says that 93 countries have become more peaceful, and 68 became more violent. Researchers looked at many things to work out the level of peace. They looked at the murder rate, how easy it was to get weapons, terrorism, and the number of soldiers in each country. Syria is the least peaceful country. It has now been bottom of the list for five years. The next four most violent countries are Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen. The IEP said that: "The world is still [stuck] with conflict in the Middle East, political turmoil in the US, refugee flows, and terrorism."