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Every June, a think tank in Sydney does something quietly uncomfortable: it puts a number on how peaceful the world is. This year’s number is not one to celebrate.

The 2026 Global Peace Index, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), scores 163 countries on conflict, safety, and militarization. The headline finding is blunt. The world has grown less peaceful for the 12th year in a row, and a record 99 countries slipped backwards in the past year alone.

But the full table is more interesting than the headline. Here is who landed at the bottom, what the gaps between them look like, and what the ranking can and can’t tell you.

The 10 least peaceful countries right now

A higher score means less peace. Here are the bottom ten, from worst to tenth-worst:

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1. Russia (3.367): last place out of 163

2. Sudan (3.195)

3. Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.189)

4. Ukraine (3.184)

5. Israel (3.124)

6. South Sudan (3.116)

7. Afghanistan (3.106)

8. Yemen (3.081)

9. Syria (3.067)

10. Mali (2.996)

Look at the spacing. Russia sits well apart from the pack, while places two through four are separated by less than 0.02 points. In practical terms, that is a near three-way tie at the very bottom.

Three things that stand out

1. Russia’s fall is about the war, not just the battlefield.

Russia taking the last spot is the biggest talking point of this edition. The index points to the sheer scale of fighting, including roughly 34,000 Russian casualties in March 2026 alone. When a country is both a combatant and a society reorganized around a long war, the score reflects both.

2. Two stories of “peace” that don’t match

Syria’s civil war was declared over in 2024, yet the country is still in the bottom ten. Afghanistan is a similar case: it is the least peaceful nation in South Asia even as its rulers claim nationwide stability.

The lesson is simple. The end of a war and the arrival of peace are two different events, and they rarely happen on the same day.

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3. The pattern is global, not regional.

The bottom ten spans Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The Horn of Africa in particular carries overlapping crises, with Sudan and South Sudan both in the list.

The bigger picture: a world under strain

The numbers behind the ranking explain why this edition has people worried:

• Armed conflict is at a post-WWII high. The IEP reports the number of active conflicts is the highest since the Second World War.

• Most countries are worse off than in 2007. 119 countries, about 73% of those tracked, are less peaceful than when the index began.

• Technology is changing the fight. The report says AI and drone warfare are reshaping how modern conflicts are run.

• The cost is enormous. Violence is estimated to cost the world about $21.8 trillion.

The top of the table is steady by comparison. Iceland remains the most peaceful country, a position it has held for nearly two decades. Europe still has seven of the ten most peaceful countries, though the IEP notes its long run of demilitarization has reversed sharply since 2022. Singapore comes eighth and is the highest-ranked Asian country.

Elsewhere, the rankings brought some surprises. The United States fell to 134th place, with the IEP blaming rising political instability and violent protests. India dropped from 115th to 127th, and Pakistan sits at 152nd.

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A peace index is not a travel warning.

This is the part most headlines skip. The Global Peace Index measures peacefulness at a national level. It looks at 23 indicators, from deaths in conflict to violent crime and weapons imports.

That means a low rank does not tell you that every street, city, or region is dangerous, and a high rank does not guarantee safety for every visitor. If you are planning a trip, treat the index as one signal among several. Check your government’s current travel advice, local news, and conditions on the ground before you book.

What this means for the rest of us

It is easy to read a list like this and feel distant from it, especially if you live somewhere in the middle of the table. But the index’s own trend line is the real story: peace is not a fixed condition, and it can erode quickly even in places that once felt secure.

That is the quiet message in a year when 99 countries moved the wrong way. The bottom ten are where the damage is deepest, but the slide is happening almost everywhere.