World less peaceful than a decade ago: Global index

London - Europe has faced a migrant crisis since 2015, following wars in Libya and Syria.

The world is less peaceful than a decade ago, mostly due to conflict in the Middle East and Africa that is costing the global economy trillions of dollars, an international index showed on Wednesday.
"There's been a gradual decline in peacefulness over the last decade," said Steve Killelea, head of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), which is headquartered in Australia.
"The reason for this slow, gradual decline in peacefulness really comes back to the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, and the spillover effects into other areas," Killelea told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.
Europe has faced a migrant crisis since 2015, following wars in Libya and Syria. More than 1 million people from Africa and the Middle East, as well as many from Afghanistan, have tried to reach the continent via Turkey or by sea.
By analysing data from think tanks, research institutes, government and universities, the IEP estimated that in 2017 violence cost the economy $14.8 trillion - nearly $2,000 a person.
If the least peaceful countries - such as Syria, South Sudan and Iraq - were as stable as the most peaceful - be it Iceland or New Zealand - that could add an extra $2,000 a head to their economies, IEP said in its annual Global Peace Index report. "As you can see, peace is integrally locked in with economic wealth," said Killelea, who described the study as the only research that measures the economic impact of violence.