Peace Rank of The Middle East, North Africa & Sub-Sahara Africa

The average peace score of Sub-Saharan Africa dropped somewhat, although it continues to rank ahead of Russia and Eurasia, South Asia, and The Middle East and Northern Africa. Stronger efforts to bolster regional security co-operation helped countries such as Chad, Mauritania and Niger become safer and more peaceful but the threat posed by Islamist terrorist groups has continued to push down the score of many countries in the Sahel and West African region. In other countries, the holding of elections has driven improvements in overall scores.

The Middle East, along with Northern Africa are regions in with the least peaceful countries on Earth which is tragic in that the history and natural beauty of the regions becomes tarnished and visitors refuse to visit these countries for fear of harm or trauma. Civil wars, Islamic infiltration and terror, refugees and displaced peoples make countries like Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Israel less and less tranquil. Peacekeeping budgets from the United Nations have offset some of the negative trends in the area but military posturing and buildup in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt do little to improve the negative characteristics in the populations.

Ranking of Peaceful Countries in The Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa
Updated 2024

Nigeria’s experience with its first transition to democracy helped improve political stability. Côte d’Ivoire has been one of the best countries in the past but fell back in recent evaluations because of a fragile security situation in the sub-region further undermined by terrorist attack in Grand Bassam on an Ivorian seaside resort.

Isolated incidents of turmoil do not mean that peace is absent and despite the challenges to peace in these regions there are some healthy and positive signs of improvement and social maturity but they are not always easy to discover.

Evaluating a ranking system to gauge the most peaceful countries in the world is by no means an exact science nor is the ranking designed to be used as an absolute. Positive peace factors are used such as a country’s commitment and political determination to: ensure access to affordable, make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all and to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

The rankings of the most peaceful countries in the world should be taken as another piece of the puzzle when determining where to go for a vacation or to live or visit. Just because a country ranks high on the list of the most peaceful nations does not mean that nothing bad could happen to visitors but it can give a good idea as to the mind-set of the population of the country and the ideals that the citizens most try to adhere to.