Iceland: This country has been named the most peaceful place to visit in the world

A new study has revealed the most peaceful and safest countries in the world to visit in 2025, with European countries dominating the top 10.

The Institute for Economics and Peace has been analysing data for the past 17 years to measure the world’s conflict levels.

Unfortunately, since the Global Peace Index’s inception in 2008, the world has become less peaceful, with the average country score deteriorating by 5.4 per cent.

This year, internal and external conflicts, the forcible displacement of citizens, violent demonstrations, geopolitical fragmentation, and global economic stagnation are among the many reasons that world peace has deteriorated, resulting in an average decline of 0.36 per cent in peace per country.

This 19th edition ranked 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness, covering 99.7 per cent of the world’s population. While there have been 74 improvements in countries across the globe, 87 nations have recorded a deterioration.

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The analysts created 23 indicators to measure the state of peace across three categories: the level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.

While many states have found themselves at lower levels of peace for a variety of factors, there are a select few countries which remain on top as the most peaceful in the world.

Iceland has remained the most peaceful country in the world since 2008, and has once again secured top spot on the index in 2025.

This Nordic island nation recorded a two per cent improvement in overall peacefulness in the past year, while only one indicator, military expenditure, deteriorated.

The key to the country’s safety lies in a number of factors, such as having an exceedingly low crime rate, while also being the only Nato member without a standing military.

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A level of trust can be seen throughout the country, demonstrated by babies being left out bundled up in the strollers for fresh air to let them sleep. Children typically play outside unsupervised from an early age.

In second place is Ireland, also holding its spot from 2024. The country is one of the few states with little involvement in international conflicts, and ranks high for its social safety and lack of militarisation.

Rounding off the top five takes us to the other side of the world, with New Zealand in third place (up two places from last year), then back to Europe with Austria in fourth place (down one place) and Switzerland in fifth (down one place).

All of these countries, other than Switzerland, were also ranked among the ten most peaceful countries in the first year of the index. Singapore, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, and Finland complete the top 10.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, is ranked in 30th place, being Europe’s second largest military power behind France. The ownership of nuclear weapons was also a contributory factor. The country is, however among those have the least involvement in conflicts (12th).

At the other end of the index, Russia, for the first time, ranks at the bottom as the least peaceful country in the world, preceded by Ukraine at 162nd, Sudan at 161st, the Democratic Republic of Congo taking 160th and Yemen at 159th.

The top ten most peaceful countries in the world

According to the Global Peace Index 2025.

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