Bangladesh 3rd most peaceful country in South Asia

Bangladesh is now the third most peaceful country in South Asia, seven notches up from its previous year's position on the Global Peace Index 2021.

Now it is the 91st peaceful country on the global index, according to the 15th edition of the index released on Thursday by The Institute for Economics and Peace.

The edition measured 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness.

Iceland remains the world's most peaceful country, a position it has held since the first issue of the index, followed by New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal and Slovenia.  

The index captured the absence of violence or the fear of violence across three domains – Safety and Security, Ongoing Conflict, and Militarisation.

This year, Bangladesh has replaced Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has slipped down 19 rungs from 2020, to become 95th globally in this year's rankings, and the 4th in South Asia.

On the other hand, India has moved up two notches from its previous year's ranking to become the 135th most peaceful country in the world and the 5th in the region.

According to the study, the largest improvement in peacefulness in South Asia occurred in Pakistan, which ranked 150th globally and 6th in the region, by moving up two notches from the previous year's ranking.

Afghanistan is the world's least peaceful country for the fourth consecutive year.

Bhutan and Nepal have remained the most peaceful countries in South Asia, where their global peace ranking placed them at 22nd and 85th place respectively.

The report found that Bangladesh and India have the lowest fear of violence rates in the region.

However, 25% of people in Bangladesh and 23% in India are very worried about violent crimes.

Afghanistan has the highest fear of violence in the region, with 53% of its people being very worried.

The Middle East and North Africa region remains the world's least peaceful region. It is home to three of the five least peaceful countries in the world.

On the other hand, Europe remains the most peaceful region in the world. The region is home to eight of the 10 most peaceful countries, and no country in Europe has been ranked outside the top half of the index.

The index has measured the peacefulness of countries based on 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators in three domains, each weighted on a scale of 1-5.

The countries with lower scores are the more peaceful ones.

Bangladesh 1.62% more peaceful than last year

Bangladesh has scored 2.068 on the 2021 index while it scored 2.102  last year.

It indicates that the country has become 1.62% more peaceful over the past year.

Meanwhile, the report has found the average level of global peacefulness has deteriorated by 0.07% on the 2021 index.