The Institute for Economics and Peace 2023 study shows global peacefulness deteriorated in 2022, the eighth year in a row it's done so. Global conflict is now the highest its been for 15 years and some governments—the U.K. for instance—recently added 15% of the world's landmass to a list where travel is ill-advised. Tourist income is invaluable to any country's stability and a key takeaway might be to think twice before choosing where to spend your precious tourist dollars.

The Most Peaceful Country In The World, And The Least

The 17th Global Peace Index conducted its annual evaluation of which countries in the world are the safest. Its newly-released 2023 rankings show that Iceland still remains the most peaceful country in the world, followed by Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and Austria—and many of these countries currently hold top spots in the EIU's 2023 study on the most liveable cities.

It seems that the 2023 Global Peace Index finds that the world is a little less safe than last year, which was also the case the year prior, at that point due in large part to the impacts of the global pandemic.

The report highlights that while many countries are spending less on military, many more are now involved in external conflict. The number of people who have died from conflicts around the world in the past year is the highest it has been this century (since the Rwandan genocide) and more than half of the world's countries (56%) are involved in external conflict, showing just how far conflict has become increasingly international.

There are several interesting takeaways:

• Iceland is still at the top, being the most peaceful place on the planet since 2008–unsurprisingly, Iceland also ranks third in the world for being the happiest country.
• 8 out of the top 10 safest countries in the world in the 2022 report were in Europe–this was the most European countries to ever be in the top ten. In 2023, Europe is the most peaceful region in the world and is home to 7 of the 10 most peaceful countries. However, due to tension with Russia, the region is far less peaceful now than it was 15 years ago.
• political instability decreased in 59 countries over the last year and it only improved in 22, according to indicators that were measured.
• it is clear that the war in Ukraine has had an impact on stability but actually more deaths occurred from conflict in Ethiopia (100,000) than from conflict in Ukraine (83,000).
• since 2008, the two indicators that have deteriorated the most globally are violent demonstrations and external conflicts fought.
• the study found that U.S. homicide rates were 6 times greater than the average across Western European, driven by gun violence and political tensions.
• the least peaceful countries in the world have stayed the same for a number of years—Afghanistan is the least peaceful country (for the 8th year in a row), then Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• the gap between the least and the most peaceful countries continues to grow, showing just how difficult it is to change the trajectory of a country, and sometimes, a region.

The Implications For Travel In a Less Safe World

A less peaceful world increases economic instability and significantly reduces global GDP—if people are fighting or concerned with their lives, they cannot be creating art, building homes, running businesses or hosting visiting families.

In turn, as countries deem other countries unsafe to visit, the travel industry is even further affected through a reduction in tourist income.

For instance, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Sudan and Belarus were recently added to the U.K.'s Foreign Office (FCDO)’s travel black list, the 21 countries to which travelers are advised not to travel—as reported by The Telegraph, these 5 countries account for 15% of the world's landmass.

There are another 44 countries which are partially considered dangerous, where travel is ill-advised in parts of the country by the U.K. government, such as Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Israel and Malaysia.

In addition, there are several wonders of the world that are currently inaccessible to tourists such as Timbuktu in Mali, St Petersburg in Russia, Angel Falls in Venezuela, Ennedi Plateau in Chad and Palmyra in Syria and the Ukraine war has put 20% of European airspace out of bounds.

Simultaneously, there is a reported growing movement of danger tourists, travelers whose aim is to visit countries that are deemed dangerous. For those that can afford the price tag, social media is also fuelling the desire to post travel photos of far-flung destinations that others cannot get to, as Lorri Krebs, a professor of geography and sustainability at Salem State University, told Newsweek.

However, as the Peace study shows, instability is infectious and can spread across regions and as those countries on the bottom of the list know, it is incredibly difficult to change the trajectory of an non peaceful country and can take years.

By traveling to countries that have large areas deemed unsafe, there is little incentive by governments to force change. This might mean that travelers from countries that have the luxury of peace in their day-to-day lives should probably think twice before traveling to countries that don't.

Steve Killelea, founder of the IEP says, "we all want to relax when we're on holiday, and there is no better place to do so than in countries that are free of violence. This is one of the reasons why each of the top ten most peaceful countries are also some of the most popular tourist destinations in the world."

Killelea adds, “this should show governments that peace comes with substantial economic benefits, as well as improving the health and well-being of their citizens. So, next time you consider where to go on holiday, why don't you vote with your feet by choosing a peaceful country?"