Afghanistan ranks 155th out of 163 countries in the 2024 Positive Peace Index published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), placing the country among those with the lowest levels of Positive Peace.
Afghanistan recorded a score of 4.13 in the index. The IEP explains that Positive Peace measures the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies. Unlike an index focused only on the absence of violence, it examines broader social and institutional conditions.
The 2024 report is based on data covering 163 countries and assesses eight pillars of Positive Peace, including well-functioning government, free flow of information, acceptance of the rights of others, good relations with neighbours, low levels of corruption, equitable distribution of resources, human capital and the business environment.
The report identifies Afghanistan among the countries that experienced a deterioration in Positive Peace over the longer period examined. Between 2019 and 2022, Afghanistan’s score increased from 3.96 to 4.13, representing a deterioration under the index’s scoring system, where lower scores indicate stronger Positive Peace.
The report also highlights broader global changes in areas such as information access, governance, social attitudes and institutional performance. It notes that Afghanistan was among the countries with the largest deteriorations in Positive Peace since 2019.
The IEP says Positive Peace is closely linked with societal resilience, economic development, wellbeing and the ability of societies to respond to shocks.