Populism and militarisation see Germany drop down Global Peace Index

Germany has been ranked the 28th-most peaceful country in the world according to the Global Peace Index 2026 (GPI), moving down five spots from the 2025 ranking.

Germany slips in peace index

Against the backdrop of war, global uncertainty and instability, Germany has slipped in the ranking of the world's most peaceful countries. The federal republic has been ranked 28th in the GPI 2026 by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).

The GPI ranks 163 countries, covering 99,7 percent of the population, and is “the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness”.

The index uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure peace in three areas: “the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarisation”. 

All countries are scored from one to five to the third decimal point. In the 2026 ranking, Germany was given an overall score of 1,657. Iceland came out on top as the most peaceful country in the world, with a GPI score of 1,161, followed by New Zealand in second place, scoring 1,343. 

Israel, Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Russia made up the five countries considered the least peaceful in 2026, with Russia ranking last with a score of 3,367.

According to the IEP, Germany’s decline in the ranking was driven by the “societal safety and security” category, which considers, among other factors, perceptions of criminality, violent demonstrations, political terror scale, access to weapons and the homicide rate. 

The report also cited the rise of the far-right, populist AfD as a reason for Germany’s decline in the ranking. “Germany experienced a record 40 percent rise in politically motivated crimes in 2024,” researchers wrote.

“The anti-immigration [AfD] party achieved its best-ever result in the February 2025 general election with over 20 percent of the vote.” Increasing militarisation, including the country's new military service law, and weapons imports were also cited as reasons for Germany’s deteriorating status as a peaceful country.

World peace at its lowest level in almost 20 years

The GPI 2026 found that the world is “struggling with the economic consequences of a record-high number of conflicts” that are particularly “interconnected and difficult to resolve”.

The global geopolitical stage is experiencing a shift in power away from “traditional European powers” towards “middle powers”, which is increasingly intertwined with technological changes in how wars are fought.

According to the 2026 index, “global peace is at its lowest level since [the GPI's] inception” in 2007, as 99 countries experienced more conflict in 2026 and 119 (around 73 percent) are now less peaceful than when the index was created.

What are the 10 most peaceful countries in the world?

According to IEP’s Global Peace Index 2026, these are the most peaceful countries in the world (GPI score):

1. Iceland (1,161)

2. New Zealand (1,343)

3. Switzerland (1,363)

4. Slovenia (1,369)

5. Ireland (1,371)

6. Austria (1,421)

7. Portugal (1,427)

8. Singapore (1,435)

9. Finland (1,478)

10. Japan (1,489)

View the full ranking here.