World Map of Peace
The safest countries in the world
Iceland has led the ranking of the most peaceful countries for nineteen years. Who follows behind it and why is shown by the Global Peace Index 2026
Key points at a glance
- According to the Global Peace Index 2026, the safest country in the world is Iceland, in first place for the nineteenth year in a row.
- It is followed by New Zealand, Switzerland, Slovenia and Ireland. Seven of the ten most peaceful countries are in Europe.
- Germany ranks 28th out of 163 and has lost five places compared with the previous year.
- The index measures internal violence, conflict and militarisation. It does not tell you how safe a particular trip is.
In numbers
1.161
Score of Iceland
the best in the index, by a clear margin
19
years in a row in first place
Iceland has led the ranking since 2008
7 of 10
of the most peaceful countries
are in Europe
- 1. Iceland1.161
- 2. New Zealand1.343
- 3. Switzerland1.363
- 4. Slovenia1.369
- 5. Ireland1.371
- 6. Austria1.421
- 7. Portugal1.427
- 8. Singapore1.435
- 9. Finland1.478
- 10. Japan1.489
- 28. Germany1.657
- Western and Central Europe: Iceland (1)1.161
- Asia-Pacific: New Zealand (2)1.343
- North and Central America: Canada (14)1.525
- South Asia: Bhutan (16)1.546
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Mauritius (18)1.586
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Bulgaria (26)1.628
- Middle East and North Africa: Qatar (31)1.676
- South America: Uruguay (43)1.754
- Data basis
- Global Peace Index 2026, published in June 2026
- Publisher
- Institute for Economics and Peace, Sydney
- Compared
- 163 states and territories
- How to read it
- A low score means more peace
Which is the safest country in the world?
According to the Global Peace Index 2026, the safest country in the world is Iceland. The island state in the North Atlantic reaches a score of 1.161 and so holds first place for the nineteenth year in a row. The gap to second place is large: New Zealand scores 1.343.
The report names three reasons for Iceland's lead: the country has no standing army, crime is very low, and social cohesion is strong. Over the past year Iceland improved by a further two percent, mainly because there were fewer violent demonstrations.
Safe means something specific in this index: it measures how peaceful a state is as a whole, meaning how much violence there is inside the country, whether it is involved in conflicts and how strongly it is militarised. The index says nothing about how safe a single trip is.
Who follows behind Iceland?
Places two to five go to New Zealand, Switzerland, Slovenia and Ireland. Behind them come Austria, Portugal, Singapore, Finland and Japan. The scores in these places are close together: only 0.008 points separate Switzerland in third place from Ireland in fifth.
This closeness explains why the order changes from year to year. Slovenia has risen two places compared with 2025, Japan three. Ireland, Switzerland and Austria have each lost one place, without anything fundamental having changed in their situation.
Seven of the ten most peaceful countries are in Europe. Outside Europe, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan make it into the top ten, and in the following places Malaysia, Canada, Bhutan, Mauritius and Australia join them. Peace is therefore not a European trait, even if Europe shapes the top of the list.
What do the most peaceful countries have in common?
The index is made up of 23 measures, and at the top are countries that do well in almost all of them: little violent crime, hardly any political instability, good relations with neighbouring states and no involvement in wars. A single strong score is not enough for a top place.
It is striking how many smaller states are near the top: Iceland, Slovenia, Ireland, Portugal and Singapore are among them. Neutrality plays a part for some. Switzerland and Austria are permanently neutral, Ireland follows a policy of military neutrality, and Iceland has no army of its own at all.
Even so, there is no simple formula. The index weights internal peace at 60 percent and external peace at 40 percent. A country can therefore rank high despite being well equipped militarily, if there is very little violence inside it and it is not involved in any conflict.
Where does Germany rank?
In the Global Peace Index 2026 Germany ranks 28th of 163, with a score of 1.657. Compared with the previous year it has lost five places, and its score has worsened by 4.1 percent. Within Europe, Germany ranks 19th.
According to the report, the largest share of this comes from the domain of internal safety and security. Three measures in particular have worsened there: political terror, violent demonstrations and violent crime. The report points to a 40 percent rise in politically motivated crime in 2024.
In the domain of militarisation, Germany's score has also worsened by four percent, among other things in the measure of weapons imports, and military spending now exceeds two percent of economic output. Its neighbours Austria and Switzerland rank 6th and 3rd.
Is the most peaceful country also the best travel destination?
Not automatically. The Global Peace Index describes a country's level of peace compared with others. It measures, for example, how many people are killed, how strongly a state is arming itself and whether it is involved in conflicts. For your trip, other things count as well that the index does not capture.
These include natural hazards, health care, road traffic and the situation in individual regions. Even in a very peaceful country there can be areas or seasons in which caution is advisable. Iceland, for instance, is peaceful but demands respect for weather, glaciers and volcanoes.
You get reliable guidance for planning a trip from the German Federal Foreign Office, which publishes travel and safety advice for every country. The index is a good complement to this, because it shows how stable a country is over many years.
How does the ranking change from year to year?
The ranking is published anew every year, and the 2026 edition is the twentieth. According to the report, peace worldwide has deteriorated once again. Armed conflicts are the most important cause, and world military spending has risen for the tenth year in a row.
Individual countries move in both directions. The largest improvement in 2026 was achieved by Poland: its score improved by 9.1 percent and the country climbed 23 places to 22nd. Mauritius also made a big jump, eleven places to 18th.
Anyone reading the list should therefore always check the edition. This page gives the figures of the Global Peace Index 2026 and will be updated with the next edition.
Global Peace Index 2026, translated
Iceland's outstanding position rests on the absence of a standing army, very low crime and strong social cohesion.
Sources
The most peaceful countries in 2026
| Rank | Country | Score | Change since last year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iceland | 1.161 | unchanged |
| 2 | New Zealand | 1.343 | +1 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 1.363 | −1 |
| 4 | Slovenia | 1.369 | +2 |
| 5 | Ireland | 1.371 | −1 |
| 6 | Austria | 1.421 | −1 |
| 7 | Portugal | 1.427 | +1 |
| 8 | Singapore | 1.435 | −1 |
| 9 | Finland | 1.478 | +1 |
| 10 | Japan | 1.489 | +3 |
| 11 | Denmark | 1.504 | −2 |
| 12 | Malaysia | 1.513 | −1 |
| 13 | Czechia | 1.517 | −1 |
| 14 | Canada | 1.525 | +1 |
| 15 | Hungary | 1.538 | −1 |
| 16 | Bhutan | 1.546 | +2 |
| 17 | Netherlands | 1.566 | unchanged |
| 18 | Mauritius | 1.586 | +11 |
| 19 | Latvia | 1.589 | unchanged |
| 20 | Australia | 1.602 | +4 |
| 21 | Belgium | 1.608 | −5 |
| 22 | Poland | 1.615 | +23 |
| 23 | Croatia | 1.619 | +2 |
| 24 | Lithuania | 1.620 | +3 |
| 25 | Estonia | 1.623 | −5 |
| 26 | Bulgaria | 1.628 | −4 |
| 27 | Spain | 1.654 | +4 |
| 28 | Germany | 1.657 | −5 |
Source: Global Peace Index 2026, Institute for Economics and Peace. The scale runs from 1 to 5, and a low score stands for more peace. The last column shows by how many places a country has improved (+) or fallen (−) compared with the 2025 edition.
More in this series
- Global Peace IndexGlobal Peace Index 2026, methodology sectionEvery year the Global Peace Index ranks 163 states by how peaceful they are. If you want to read the ranking, it helps to know how it is calculated
- Neutral countriesTreaties, constitutions and UN resolutionsNeutral is not always neutral. Some states have been so by treaty for over two hundred years, others by constitution, by law or simply as policy
More questions about the safest countries
Which is the safest country in Europe?
Iceland comes first in Europe as well. The Global Peace Index groups Western and Central Europe into one region, and within it Iceland is followed by Switzerland, Slovenia, Ireland and Austria. All five are also among the six most peaceful countries in the world.
According to the report, the region is the most peaceful in the world overall, with seven of the ten top places. Germany ranks 19th within the region. The index counts Eastern Europe as a separate region together with Central Asia, where Bulgaria leads, 26th worldwide.
Which is the safest country in Africa?
According to the Global Peace Index 2026, the most peaceful country in Africa is Mauritius. The island state in the Indian Ocean ranks 18th worldwide with a score of 1.586 and has climbed eleven places since the previous year. It therefore leads the sub-Saharan Africa region.
The index assigns North Africa to the Middle East and North Africa region. There, Morocco is the first North African country, at 65th worldwide. Mauritius, incidentally, is one of the states without an army of its own: its Special Mobile Force is part of the police.
Which is the safest country in South America?
In South America, Uruguay comes first. It ranks 43rd out of 163 in the Global Peace Index 2026, with a score of 1.754. This makes South America the region whose most peaceful country stands furthest down the global ranking.
For comparison: in North and Central America Canada leads at 14th, in South Asia Bhutan at 16th, in the Middle East and North Africa Qatar at 31st. The chart above shows the most peaceful country of each of the eight world regions side by side.
What is the safest country if war breaks out?
No ranking can give a reliable answer to that. The Global Peace Index describes how peaceful states were over the past year. It does not predict how a country will behave in a future crisis or which countries would be affected by a war.
What the index can show is that the top places are stable over many years. Since 2008, the 25 most peaceful countries have deteriorated by only 0.3 percent on average, the 25 least peaceful by 18.9 percent. If you want to know which states keep out of wars by law, the page on neutral countries sets out the foundations. For a concrete decision about travelling or living somewhere, the advice of the German Federal Foreign Office remains the first place to look.
Which country is the safest to live in?
For the question of where you can live safely, the Global Peace Index is one building block, but not a complete verdict. It records violent crime, homicides, political instability and conflict, so mainly the absence of violence. It does not measure healthcare, income or natural hazards.
If you look only at the Safety and Security domain, you get a somewhat different order than in the overall ranking. There Norway leads with 1.243, ahead of Finland and Iceland. In the overall ranking Norway is 33rd, because conflict and militarisation count there too. Which partial score matters to you depends on what you mean by safety.
Peace does not begin in a ranking
Behind every position are people who settle disputes, connect neighbourhoods and build trust. That is exactly where W3ltfrieden starts: with peace missions that you can start or support yourself.
Find your peace mission