Ukraine was the country that suffered the biggest drop in the 2023 Global Peace Index, falling 14 places to 157th place, according to the classification published this Thursday by the Institute for the Economy and Peace (IPE).
According to the document, the economic impact of violence increased by 479%, representing 449 billion dollars (411 billion euros), equivalent to 64% of Ukraine’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
About 65% of men in Ukraine between the ages of 20 and 24 fled the country or were killed in the conflict.
On the other hand, the countries that lead the Global Peace Index (GPI), with the best score, are Iceland, in first place, followed by Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and Austria, while Portugal appears in 7th place. .
Afghanistan (ranked 163) was ranked the world’s least peaceful country by the GPI, followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Russia was ranked 158th, just after Ukraine, among the least peaceful countries in the world.
Despite the conflict in Ukraine, Russia’s arrest rate, violent demonstrations, the impact of terrorism and murder rates all improved last year, with the murder rate at its lowest level since 2008.
In the document prepared by the Australian ‘think tank’, it is mentioned that the average level of global peace has deteriorated for the ninth consecutive year. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, civil unrest and political instability remain high, while regional and global conflicts accelerate.
Although 84 countries registered an improvement in their peace scores, 79 nations worsened on this issue, according to the study.
According to the document, deaths from global conflicts increased by 96%, standing at 238,000.
New data showed that more deaths were recorded in the conflict in Ethiopia than in Ukraine, dwarfing the previous global peak during the war in Syria.
Seventy-nine countries have witnessed increasing levels of conflict, including Ethiopia, Myanmar, Ukraine, Israel, and South Africa.
The global economic impact of violence increased by 17% to 17.5 billion (15.7 billion euros) in 2022, equivalent to 13% of world GDP.
According to the document, a Chinese blockade of Taiwan would cause a drop in world economic output of 2.7 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros), almost double the loss that occurred due to the global financial crisis of 2008.
With the conflict in Ukraine, 92 countries increased their military spending, but 110 reduced their number of military personnel.
Conflicts are becoming more international, with 91 countries now involved in some form of conflict abroad, up from 58 in 2008.
Source: TSF
