The Global Peace Index comprises 23 indicators of the absence of violence or fear of violence. Of the 23 GPI indicators, 15 deteriorated in 2020.
Global Peace Index: Exploring the 23 Indicators of Peace
This chart shows the percentage change in score for each indicator from the 2008 to the 2020 Global Peace Index (GPI) methodology used to measure global levels of peace.
Of the 23 GPI indicators, 15 recorded a deterioration with the remaining eight recorded an improvement. Only two indicators had an overall change of more than 20%. The terrorism impact indicator deteriorated by 21.2%, and the UN peacekeeping funding indicator improved by 20.4%.
The GPI comprises 23 indicators of the absence of violence or fear of violence.
The indicators were originally selected with the assistance of the expert panel in 2007 and have been reviewed by the expert panel on an annual basis.
All scores for each indicator are normalised on a scale of 1-5, whereby qualitative indicators are banded into five groupings and quantitative ones are scored from 1 to 5, to the third decimal point.
ONGOING DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT
- Number and duration of internal conflicts Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) Battle-Related Deaths Dataset, Non-State Conflict Dataset and One-sided Violence Dataset; Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
- Number of deaths from external organised conflict UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset
- Number of deaths from internal organised conflict UCDP Battle-related Deaths Dataset
- Number, duration and role in external conflicts UCDP Battle-Related Deaths Dataset; IEP
- Intensity of organised internal conflict Qualitative assessment by EIU analysts g Relations with neighbouring countries Qualitative assessment by EIU analysts
SOCIETAL SAFETY & SECURITY
- Level of perceived criminality in society Qualitative assessment by EIU analysts
- Number of refugees and internally displaced people as a percentage of the population Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Mid-Year Trends; Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
- Political instability Qualitative assessment by EIU analysts
- Political Terror Scale Gibney, Mark, Linda Cornett, Reed Wood, Peter Haschke, Daniel Arnon, and Attilio Pisanò. 2019. The Political Terror Scale 1976-2018. Date Retrieved, from the Political Terror Scale website: http://www.politicalterrorscale.org.
- Impact of terrorism IEP Global Terrorism Index (GTI)
- Number of homicides per 100,000 people United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (CTS); EIU estimates
- Level of violent crime Qualitative assessment by EIU analysts
- Likelihood of violent demonstrations Qualitative assessment by EIU analysts
- Number of jailed population per 100,000 people World Prison Brief, Institute for Criminal Policy Research at Birkbeck, University of London
- Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people UNODC CTS; EIU estimates
MILITARISATION
- Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP The Military Balance, IISS, EIU Estimates
- Number of armed services personnel per 100,000 people The Military Balance, IISS
- Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as recipient (imports) per 100,000 people Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfers Database
- Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as supplier (exports) per 100,000 people SIPRI Arms Transfers Database
- Financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions United Nations Committee on Contributions; IEP
- Nuclear and heavy weapons capabilities The Military Balance, IISS; SIPRI; UN Register of Conventional Arms; IEP
- Ease of access to small arms and light weapons Qualitative assessment by EIU analysts
