Vietnam has climbed four places in the 2023 Global Peace Index to become the 41st most peaceful nation in the world.

The 17th Global Peace Index (GPI) report published by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) assessed 163 countries and territories according to three criteria, including the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict, and the degree of militarization.

The lower the score a country received on the assessment, the higher it ranked on the annual index. 

Vietnam jumped four positions to rank 41st in this year’s GPI report. 

Compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnam sat higher than Laos (46th), Timor-Leste (49th), Indonesia (53rd), Cambodia (73rd), Thailand (92nd), and Myanmar (145th).

Singapore placed 6th while Malaysia was at 19th.

Among the 19 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region measured in the GPI report, New Zealand and Singapore ranked first and second, respectively, while Vietnam placed seventh, outranking South Korea (8th), Cambodia (13th), and China (14th).

In terms of ‘societal safety and security,’ Vietnam stood at 44th.

Meanwhile, for ‘ongoing domestic and international conflict’ and ‘militarization,’ the Southeast Asian country placed 43rd and 55th, respectively.

Iceland placed first overall, continuing the first-place streak it began in 2008.

It was followed by Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Austria.

Seven of the top 10 most peaceful countries were in Europe. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan (163rd) was named the least peaceful country in the world for the eighth consecutive year. 162nd and 161st were Yemen and Syria, respectively.

This year’s GPI report found that the world has become less peaceful for the 13th time during the past 15 years, with the average level of country peacefulness deteriorating by 0.42 percent since last year.

During the 2008-2023 period, the world became less peaceful, with the average country score deteriorating by five percent.

“Of the 163 countries in the GPI, 95 recorded deteriorations, while 66 recorded improvements and two recorded no change in their score,” the report said.

“There are now 91 countries that are least partially involved in some form of external conflict, up from 58 in 2008."

The most obvious trend was that conflicts had become more internationalized, Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, cited Steve Killelea, founder and executive chairman of the IEP, and one of the authors of the report.

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