Uzbekistan Leads Central Asia in the 2026 Global Peace Index

The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has released the 2026 Global Peace Index. According to the report, global peacefulness has fallen to its lowest level since the index was first introduced 20 years ago, with peace levels deteriorating in 99 of the 163 countries assessed over the past year.

The Global Peace Index is the world's leading measure of national peacefulness. Covering 99.7 percent of the global population, it is based on 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators grouped into three key domains:

• the level of societal safety and security;
• the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflicts;
• the degree of militarization.

Against the backdrop of this global decline, Uzbekistan recorded notable progress, climbing 10 places in the global ranking to 37th position. In 2025, the country ranked 47th.

This achievement enabled Uzbekistan to surpass all of its regional neighbors and become the highest-ranked country in Central Asia. The regional rankings are as follows:

• Uzbekistan – 37th place;
• Kazakhstan – 44th place;
• Tajikistan – 47th place;
• Kyrgyzstan – 61st place;
• Turkmenistan – 66th place.

Uzbekistan also ranked ahead of several developed European countries, including the United Kingdom (39th) and Sweden (40th).

According to IEP analysts, Uzbekistan's improved performance was driven by several factors, including:

• a steady decline in domestic crime rates;
• high levels of personal safety;
• a pragmatic foreign policy focused on strengthening good-neighborly relations and avoiding participation in cross-border military alliances.

Iceland remains the world's most peaceful country, a position it has held for 19 consecutive years. It is followed by New Zealand, Switzerland, Slovenia, and Ireland.

At the other end of the ranking, Russia became the least peaceful country in the world for the first time, followed by Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, and Israel.

The overall global situation remains challenging:

• 119 countries (73 percent) are less peaceful today than they were in 2007;
• the number of countries involved in external conflicts has nearly doubled, from 59 in 2008 to 103 in 2026;
• the global economic impact of violence increased by 3.2 percent, reaching $21.81 trillion in 2025, equivalent to 10.5 percent of global GDP;
• the number of drone-related attacks surged by more than 11,500 percent between 2018 and 2025;
• deaths resulting from global conflicts remain at historically high levels, with more than 181,000 fatalities recorded in 2025—six times higher than in 2008.