Most Dangerous Countries in the World 2024

Every year, the Institute for Economics and Peace releases its Global Peace Index report. This report is the only one of its kind that measures how dangerous or safe a nation is based on 23 different indicators, including political terror, deaths from internal conflict, and murder rate.

The GPI report evaluates 163 countries that account for more than 99.7% of the world’s total population. The factors analyzed in the report are grouped into three different areas: Safety and Security, Ongoing Conflict, and Militarization. The factors used to compile this report include: the number of internal and external violent conflicts, level of distrust, political instability, potential for terrorist acts, number of homicides, and military expenditures as a percentage of GDP. A score is calculated for each of the 163 nations featured in the report based on these factors. The higher the score, the more dangerous the country is and the lower it ranks in terms of safety.

Top 20 Most Dangerous Countries in the World (Global Peace Index 2023 — higher scores are less safe)

Compared to the 2022 Global Peace Index, the 2023 GPI saw global peace deteriorate by 0.42% overall, the thirteenth decline in the past fifteen years. While 84 countries became safer and more peaceful, 79 became less so, which led to an overall slide. Declines in peace and safety, the report points out, happen faster and move further than improvements.

Unsurprisingly, two of the largest increases in danger from the 2021 report to the 2023 report occurred in Russia and Ukraine, which were at war with one another following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. The other three countries with the greatest increase in danger were Haiti, Mali, and Israel, all of which experienced a higher level of domestic turmoil. Needless to say, Israel’s conflict with Hamas, resulting after the attack of October 7, 2023, has added significantly to Israel’s higher danger risk indicator.

Moving back one year, the 2022 Global Peace Index saw 90 countries make safety improvements and 71 countries register deteriorations. Overall, the GPI average deteriorated by 0.3% from 2021 to 2022, and twelve countries showed a “very low” state of peace. These countries have scores above 2.9. For comparison, the world’s safest countries have scores between 1.1 and 1.44.

In addition to determining the most dangerous countries in the world, the Global Peace Index also tracks the safest countries in the world. Also noteworthy is the fact that the GDI measures the safety of people as a whole. Other data sources may focus more specifically on certain demographics, such as the most dangerous countries for women or the most dangerous countries for Christians.

The 12 Most Dangerous Countries in the World

1. Afghanistan

With a 2023 score of 3.448 (slightly safer than 2022's 3.554), Afghanistan remains the most dangerous country in the world for the sixth year in a row. This is remarkable given that, as a war-torn country that has been mired in war, revolution, and civil strife for decades, Afghanistan experienced a significant decrease in conflict-related deaths in 2022, with the number falling by 90.6%, from almost 43,000 to just over 4,000.

2. Yemen

According to the United Nations, Yemen is still immersed in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. More than six years of ongoing military conflict has forced 4.3 million people to leave their homes and put 14 million people at risk of starvation and deadly disease. About 80% of the Yemen population (24 million people) is in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. That said, Yemen has experienced an improvement in peacefulness thanks to the reduction in Saudi airstrikes and cessation of Houthi cross-border attacks due in whole or in part to a ceasefire signed in April 2022. Moreover, conflict-related deaths fell by 63%.

3. Syria

Syria's 2023 GPI of 3.294 can be attributed to ongoing conflict, civil unrest, and widespread violent crime, including robberies, assaults, carjacking, and kidnappings. The Syrian civil war has plagued the country since March 2011 and has been the second-deadliest war of the 21st century. As of March 2019, 5.7 million people had fled Syria, and more than 6 million had been displaced internally. Armed conflict exists mostly between the government and opposition groups, with little to no rule of law or order in place outside the country’s capital of Damascus.

4. South Sudan

The least-peaceful country in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Sudan has been hampered by high levels of internal conflict and remains in a challenging situation. The country is grappling with significant issues related to ongoing conflict, political instability, and humanitarian crises. Despite efforts towards peace and stability, South Sudan continues to face internal tensions and conflicts that impact its overall peacefulness and security. Its GPI score has increased only slightly since the 2022 report, nudging up from 3.184 to 3.221.

5. DR Congo

Poverty and political unrest are an everyday occurrence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with rebels and armed forces wandering certain areas at will. Crimes, including murder, rape, kidnapping, carjackings, burglaries, muggings, and highway robberies, are fairly common. Even natural disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, are a concern. Like South Sudan, DR Congo experienced only a small deterioration in GPI between 2022 and 2023, going from 3.166 to 3.214.

6. Russia

While most of the fighting in the Russo-Ukrainian War is taking place in Ukraine, Russia actually ranked as the more dangerous of the two countries, for the period that encompasses the second year of the military conflict. This is partially due to the fact that Russian army casualties in Ukraine count toward Russia's level of danger and partially due to pre-existing economic stresses and an authoritative government that is often notably hostile to its own populace. Additionally, trade embargoes and other international restrictions on Russia have strained Russia's economy and food trade and placed increased hardship on the Russian people.

7. Ukraine

Of all the countries on the list, Ukraine has experienced the largest deterioration in overall score both regionally and globally. This is primarily due to the Russian invasion in February 2022, which led to widespread conflict, mass displacements, and severe humanitarian crises. The invasion resulted in close to 30% of the Ukrainian population being estimated as refugees or internally displaced. The conflict has had a profound impact across multiple domains, with the largest deteriorations occurring in the deaths from internal conflict, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and armed services personnel rate indicators.

The repercussions of Russia's war with Ukraine have been felt worldwide, particularly in the areas of energy and food scarcity, and are expected to continue reverberating through the 2024 report and beyond, causing rises in metrics including food insecurity, military expenditures, and political instability.

8-12. Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Mali, and the Central African Republic.

The additional countries categorized as having "very low peace" (a GPI of 2.9 or higher) are Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Mali, and the Central African Republic. Somalia and the Central African Republic are two countries in which more than 20% of the population are either refugees or internally displaced. Sudan has the least peaceful possible score on indicators such as violent crime, political instability, and the presence of refugees and internally displaced persons. Iraq, as a post-conflict country in the Middle East and North Africa region, has recorded improvements in peacefulness. And Mali has become an increasingly prominent conflict zone over the past decade, experiencing varying intensities of civil war.