Infoloop

As per the Fragile States Index 2024 by The Fund for Peace, Syria is the highest-ranked Asian country with a score of 108.1, followed by Yemen & Afghanistan at second and third, respectively. Sri Lanka stays at 9th place in Asia while 33rd in the global ranking, which shows a 3-place improvement relative to the 2023 index.

The Fragile States Index (FSI) is a tool developed by the Fund for Peace (FFP) to assess the vulnerability and stability of countries around the world. It measures a country's resilience and susceptibility to collapse or conflict based on a wide range of social, economic, political, and security indicators. According to the Index, higher FSI scores indicate greater fragility and risk of instability or conflict, and lower FSI scores indicate stronger resilience and stability.

As per the 17th edition (2023) of the Global Peace Index (GPI) released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), global peacefulness has deteriorated for the 13th time in the last 15 years. The GPI covers 163 countries comprising 99.7 per cent of the world’s population and measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of Societal Safety and Security; the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation.

According to the report, Iceland has become once again the most peaceful country in the world & it has remained at the top since 2008. Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand & Austria are other countries in the top five. Afghanistan has ranked at the bottom of the index preceded by Yemen, Syria & South Sudan.

Among the 163 countries, Kazakhstan is the most improved country compared to its rank in the peace index 2022. In 2022, Kazakhstan was the most deteriorated country in the index & has regained its position this year. Oman, Côte d'Ivoire, Azerbaijan & Thailand are the other countries which have improved significantly this year.

Meanwhile, Ecuador has dropped by 24 places by being the most deteriorated country compared to the rank in the last year. Equatorial Guinea, Sri Lanka, Haiti, & Eswatini are the other countries which have shown significant drops in their ranks this year. Sri Lanka was one of the fast climbers in the 2022 index but has lost its rank due to the economic decline, violent protests and the ouster of the government last July.