Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq climbed seven places to 140th out of 163 countries in the 2026 Global Peace Index published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, while improving from 19th to 16th place among Arab states.

The index measures societal safety and security, the extent of conflict, and militarization levels.

Iceland remained the world's most peaceful country, a position it has held since 2008, ahead of New Zealand and Switzerland. Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Russia ranked among the least peaceful countries.

Among Arab countries, Qatar recorded the strongest performance, followed by Kuwait and Oman. Iraq was positioned behind countries including Egypt, Mauritania, Bahrain, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Tunisia, but ahead of Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.