Rabat – Morocco has improved its ranking in the global peace index, with the country coming in 74th this year, up from the 65th position in the previous ranking.
With a “medium” state of peace, Morocco recently ranked 6th in the MENA region with an overall score of 1.969 ahead of its neighbors, namely Tunisia (85th globally), Algeria (109th), Mauritania (112th), and Egypt (126th).
According to the index, Morocco has over the past year recorded an economic cost of violence that represents 7% of the country’s GDP. The cost is estimated at $19,913.7 million and remains relatively higher than the rate — 2% — recorded by the world’s most peaceful country, Iceland. Yet it is way lower than Syria’s rate, the world’s highest, which is set at 80%.
With the Global peace Index focusing on domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, as well as militarization, Morocco respectively ranked 111th, 60th, and 74th worldwide.
Still, the country witnessed an improvement in the status of its peacefulness despite the ongoing global crises.
Read Also: Morocco Ranks 80th in the 2022 Positive Peace Index
Issued by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the index notably reports that global peace has deteriorated by 0.3% in the past year, with 90 out of 163 countries showing improvement in peace indicators while 70 other countries have seen a marked deterioration in their state of peacefulness.
In the MENA region, Qatar recorded the highest score of 1.533 and a global ranking of 23; it was followed by Kuwait, Jordan, UAE, and Oman.
In contrast, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, and South Sudan were the world’s least peaceful countries. Russia joined the list after launching the ongoing war against Ukraine.
The deterioration in the peacefulness rankings of Russia and Ukraine comes as no surprise with the Global Peace Index released amid rising escalations between the two countries and serious global food and energy crises.
The index further explained that the world’s largest deteriorations concerned indicators related to political instability, the scale of political terror, neighboring country relations, refugees and Internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as external conflicts and intensity of internal conflicts.
Still, terrorism impact recorded the lowest level since 2008. Countries also showed improvements in the indicators related to nuclear and heavy weapons, deaths from internal conflict, military expenditure, incarceration rates, and perceptions of criminality.
“Last year we warned about the economic fallout from COVID-19. We are now experiencing supply chain shortages, rising inflation, and food insecurity that have been compounded by the tragic events in Ukraine,” said Steve Killelea, Founder & Executive Chairman of IEP, warning that “the political and economic consequences of this will reverberate for years to come.”
