The most peaceful country in Africa is Mauritius, which is ranked 28th on the 2022 GPI. while South Sudan remains the least peaceful country in Africa and one of the least peaceful countries in the world, despite an improvement in peacefulness on the 2022 GPI.
In the report, Nigeria was graded low on the state of peace out of very high, high, medium, low and very low on the chart.
Nigeria moved one step from 147 in 2020, though it still ranked eighth among the least peaceful countries in Africa after South Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan and Mali.
The GPI, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), measures the state of peace in countries. It assesses countries in three domains, including the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarisation.
Top 20 Most peaceful countries in Africa, 2023
| Rank | Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mauritius |
| 2 | Ghana |
| 3 | The Gambia |
| 4 | Botswana |
| 5 | Sierra Leone |
| 6 | Zambia |
| 7 | Equitorial Guinea |
| 8 | Malawi |
| 9 | Namibia |
| 10 | Senegal |
| 11 | Rwanda |
| 12 | Morocco |
| 13 | Gabon |
| 14 | Liberia |
| 15 | Angola |
| 16 | Madagascar |
| 17 | Tunisia |
| 18 | Tanzania |
| 19 | Lesotho |
| 20 | Eswatini |
Top 20 Most Dangerous countries in Africa, 2023
| Rank | Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | South Sudan |
| 2 | D.R Congo |
| 3 | Somalia |
| 4 | Central African Republic |
| 5 | Sudan |
| 6 | Libya |
| 7 | Mali |
| 8 | Ethiopia |
| 9 | Burkina Faso |
| 10 | Nigeria |
| 11 | Cameroon |
| 12 | Niger |
| 13 | Chad |
| 14 | Eritrea |
| 15 | Burundi |
| 16 | Zimbabwe |
| 17 | Egypt |
| 18 | Guinea |
| 19 | Mozambique |
| 20 | Uganda |
Sub-Saharan Africa
According to the study, sub-Saharan Africa recorded a slight fall in peacefulness in the 2022 GPI, with the average country score deteriorating by 0.022 points, or one per cent. Of the 44 countries in the region, 21 improved in score, while 22 deteriorated and one remained unchanged. The region is less peaceful than the global average on the Safety and Security and Ongoing Conflict domains, but more peaceful than the global average on the Militarisation domain. Five coups as well as disputes over election results and allegations of corruption led to a rise in civil unrest and political instability across the region, resulting in an average deterioration across the region in the political terror indicator of 6.9 per cent.
The most peaceful country in the region is Mauritius, which is ranked 28th in the 2022 GPI. The country recorded a slight improvement of 1.3 per cent in its GPI score. Mauritius also improved in terms of its UN peacekeeping funding by 15.3 per cent.
South Sudan remains the least peaceful country in the region and one of the least peaceful countries in the world, despite an improvement in peacefulness in the 2022 GPI. Although levels of internal conflict in the country remain high, the number of deaths from the conflict improved by 15 per cent in 2022. South Sudan’s homicide rate is now at its lowest level since the country’s establishment in 2011, recording 4.42 homicides per 100,000 people.
The largest improvement in peacefulness in the region occurred in Zambia, which recorded a 3.9 per cent improvement in its GPI score. This was largely driven by an improvement in Zambia’s relationship with its neighbours as well as a 17 per cent fall in military expenditure as a percentage of GDP.
Burkina Faso experienced the second largest fall in peacefulness in the region, with deteriorations in all three domains largely influenced by a coup in January 2022. Burkina Faso is the third most impacted country in the world by terrorism with the 2022 Global Terrorism Index, as it registered the second highest number of deaths from terrorist attacks of any country in 2021.
North Africa
Sudan is the least peaceful country in Northern Africa. The country experienced a deterioration across all domains apart from Militarisation, which improved slightly by 0.04 per cent.
Morocco and Tunisia remains the most peaceful country in the Northern Africa region and are the only North African countries to be amongst the 20 most peaceful countries in Africa.
Top 20 Most Peaceful Countries in Africa, 2023
1 Mauritius
2 Ghana
3 The Gambia
4 Botswana
5 Sierra Leone
6 Zambia
7 Equitorial Guinea
8 Malawi
9 Namibia
10 Senegal
11 Rwanda
12 Morocco
13 Gabon
14 Liberia
15 Angola
16 Madagascar
17 Tunisia
18 Tanzania
19 Lesotho
20 Eswatini
Top 20 Least Peaceful Countries in Africa, 2023
1 South Sudan
2 D.R Congo
3 Somalia
4 Central African Republic
5 Sudan
6 Libya
7 Mali
8 Ethiopia
9 Burkina Faso
10 Nigeria
11 Cameroon
12 Niger
13 Chad
14 Eritrea
15 Burundi
16 Zimbabwe
17 Egypt
18 Guinea
19 Mozambique
20 Uganda
Global Peace Index (GPI) is a report produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) which measures the relative position of nations’ and regions’ peacefulness. The GPI ranks 163 independent states and territories (collectively accounting for 99.7 per cent of the world’s population) according to their levels of peacefulness. In the past decade, the GPI has presented trends of increased global violence and less peacefulness.
Source: Global Peace Index 2022
