According to the Global Peace Index (GPI), updated annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace, Portugal occupies the first place among the countries of the European Union in the ranking of the most peaceful. In the world ranking, it is only surpassed by Iceland, holder of the first place since 2008, and by New Zealand.
Thus, the country maintains the classification of 2019, in a year in which there was a deterioration in the global level of peace, according to the 14th annual report of the GPI, published this Wednesday, 10th June.
This is good news for Portugal, which reinforces two of the factors that makes Portugal an excellent place for foreign investments: security and stability.
In a press release, the Ministry of Internal Affairs commented on these results, expressing satisfaction:
“The significant steps that Portugal has taken in recent years in terms of security have allowed the reduction of crime and, consequently, the gradual and consolidated rise in this ranking”, referring to the positive evolution of Portugal, which occupied 14th place in 2014.
The study assigns a score to each country based on internal and external conflicts, security and militarization, measured by 23 indicators. The report, which classifies 163 independent states and territories and covers 99.7% of the world population, indicates that there have been improvements in eight parameters, with a deterioration in 12 and three that have not changed in the last year.
Europe has 13 of the 20 most peaceful countries in the world and only two in the second half of the table: Kosovo, at 84th, and Turkey, at 150th. At the opposite extreme are the regions of the Middle East and North Africa, home to three of the five least secure countries (Iraq, Syria and Yemen). However, the GPI stresses that 11 of the 20 countries in the region have improved security.