Bangladesh was placed in 91st position among 163 countries in the Global Peace Index for 2021- seven places up from 98th position in the previous year.
The Institute for Economics and Peace prepares the Global Peace Index cumulatively measuring safety and security, militarisation, and frequency of ongoing conflicts to fix ranks from most peaceful to least peaceful countries.
Bangladesh ranked the third most peaceful in South Asia, with an overall score of 2.068 —behind Bhutan and Nepal.
The ranking for 2021 has been released on Thursday.
Singapore has been named the most peaceful country in Asia, positioning itself at 11th overall in the world.
The report includes Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia in the Positive Peace deficit list, measured until 2019, which claims the countries are likely to experience "increasing levels of violence" over the next decade.
Iceland remained the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal, and Slovenia. Afghanistan is the least peaceful country in the world for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and Iraq.
All, except Yemen, have been ranked amongst the five least peaceful nations since at least 2015, with Afghanistan having been ranked amongst the three least peaceful nations since 2010.
The full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on peacefulness is still unfolding. While some forms of
violence declined in the short term, growing unease with lockdowns and rising economic uncertainty resulted in civil unrest increasing in 2020.
Over 5,000 pandemic-related violent events were recorded between January 2020 and April 2021.
It is still too early to fully gauge the long-term effects of the pandemic on peace. However, the changing economic conditions in many nations increases the likelihood of political instability and violent demonstrations.
