By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), published the Global Peace Index (GPI) which is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness.
This report presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to-date on trends in peace,its economic value,& how to develop peaceful societies.
The Global Peace Index covers 99.7% of the world’s population, and is calculated using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace across three domains:
– the level of Societal Safety and Security,
– the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict,
– and the degree of Militarisation.
The index shows South Africa dropping eight places and now ranked as the 20th worst country in the world in terms of safety and security.
Overall, Sub-Saharan Africa recorded a slight fall in peacefulness in the 2023 GPI, with the average country score deteriorating by 0.57%.
This means that South Africa is less peaceful than most African countries, including Sierra Leone, Ghana, Rwanda, Namibia, and Zambia – among others.
According to the report, the region is less peaceful than the global average in the Safety and Security and Ongoing Conflict domains but more peaceful than the worldwide average in the Militarisation domain.
This put South Africa in the 130th position worldwide (out of 163 countries), dropping eight places from a year ago, cementing the country firmly in the bottom half of the ranking.
On the safety and security index – which looks specifically at criminality, political instability, violence and unrest – South Africa ranks in the bottom 20 (144th out of 163), just ahead of Ukraine, which is at war with Russia.
South Africa’s low ranking on this domain is due to its high murder rate, large number of violent demonstrations, high levels of violent crime, and high levels of perceived criminality.
According to the report, violence cost South Africa $176.49 billion (R3.30 trillion) in 2022 – 15% of the country’s GDP.
South Africa placed 15th on the Economic Cost of Violence Ranking, sorted by the economic cost of violence as a percentage of GDP.
The cost of violence in South Africa grew by $57.58 billion (R1.08 trillion) between 2021 and 2022. The GPI estimates that the per capita impact of violence in South Africa in 2022 was $2,947 (R55,133.96).
Read the Global Peace Index 2023 Report here:Global Peace Index 2023 report.