For The Seventh Year, Qatar Tops Peace Rankings In MENA Region

Qatar has been ranked the most peaceful country for the seventh time in West Asia and North Africa (MENA) as per the latest edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI). The ranking was released by Australia-headquartered Institute of Economics and Peace. Ever since the index’s first publication, Qatar had topped the list.

“Qatar is the most peaceful country in the MENA region, and the 27th most peaceful country overall. It is one of the three countries in the region that is ranked among the 50 most peaceful countries in the world,” the report mentions.

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The 2025 edition examined 99.7% of the global population, ranking 163 independent countries and territories based on their degree of peacefulness. This report offers the most detailed, data-driven evaluation to date of peace trends, their economic impact, and strategies for fostering peaceful societies. Moreover, the GPI is considered to be the foremost benchmark for assessing global peacefulness.

It was evaluated by using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators across three key areas: Societal Safety and Security, the scope of Domestic and International Conflict, and the level of Militarisation.

“Four of the ten least peaceful countries on the 2025 GPI are in the MENA region […] The largest fall in peacefulness occurred on the Ongoing Conflict domain, which deteriorated by 0.8%. There were deteriorations in deaths from internal conflict, deaths from external conflict, and internal conflicts fought indicators, driven by the ongoing conflicts in Palestine, Sudan, and Syria and the associated increase in regional unrest,” the report says.

Qatar’s score changed slightly by 0.99%, which analysts say mainly reflects regional tensions and more conflict-related issues.

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The ongoing genocide in Gaza has been identified as the primary driver across the decline in peacefulness across the Middle East and North Africa. The report stated that the conflict had thrown the entire region into crisis, highlighting the involvement of Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen.

The 2025 GPI report had also revealed that global peacefulness had declined for the 13th time in the past 17 years, with the average level of peace across countries falling 0.36% compared to previous years. This is the sixth year witnessing the worsening of global peace as per the Index.