The most and least peaceful countries in the world, ranked
According to this year's edition of an annual report from the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Botswana, Kuwait, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Angola, and Burkina Faso all have one surprising thing in common: They are more peaceful than the US.
The Global Peace Index from the IEP compiles yearly rankings of peacefulness in 162 nations based on 23 different types of data.
The IEP attempts to answer a simple question: Is the world getting more or less peaceful?
While the most peaceful nations in the world are growing more peaceful, with some reaching historic highs, the least peaceful countries are descending further into chaos and war.
The report also includes an analysis of the economic impact of containing and dealing with the consequences of global violence. Last year violence containment was estimated to cost $13.6 trillion, which is approximately 13.3% of the world's gross domestic product.