As the gap between countries enjoying peace and prosperity and countries suffering violence and conflict still increasing through 2015, the economic impact of global violence cost the world economy a new record of US$14.3 trillion last year, equivalent to over 13.4% of the World GDP, while Iceland ranked as the most peaceful country in the world with Europe yet again remains the most peaceful region, according the Global Peace Index 2015.

The annual peace index, which measures the state of peace in 162 countries covering 99.6% of the world population based on 23 indicators that gauge the absence of violence or the fear of violence, shows that 81 countries have become more peaceful, yet78 have deteriorated since 2014. Iceland is still the most peaceful country, followed by Denmark and Austria; while Europe have reached historically high levels of peace statues, with 15 of the top 20 most peaceful countries are in Europe.

The 10 Most Peaceful Countries 2015 The 10 Least Peaceful Countries 1. Iceland 2. Denmark 3. Austria 4. New Zealand 5. Switzerland 6. Finland 7. Canada 8. Japan 9. Australia 10. Czech Republic 1. Syria 2. Iraq 3. Afghanistan 4. South Sudan 5. Central African Republic 6. Somalia 7. Sudan 8. DR Congo 9. Pakistan 10. North Korea

On contrary, Syria remains as the world’s least peaceful country, followed by Iraq and Afghanistan. Libya and Ukraine are among the fastest deteriorating countries this year, due to an increasing civil unrest and terrorism, in fact 87 countries experienced a terrorist incident in 2013, up from 81 in 2012. The Middle East and North Africa is ranked the least peaceful region in the world.

The index also reports that the intensity of internal armed conflict around the world has increased dramatically over the last few years, with the number of people killed in conflicts rising over 3.5 times from 49,000 in 2010 to 180,000 in 2014. The impact of violence on the global economy reached $14.3 trillion in the last year, compared to $10 trillion of global violence cost from the year before.

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