The Global Peace Index, is out today and sees dramatic falls in middle east countries after the Arab spring - and unexpected rises in others.

Published by the Institute for Economics & Peace, the index tries to measure peace. This year has seen the world become less peaceful for the third year in a row - and highlights what it says is a continuing threat of terrorism.

It's made up of 23 indicators, ranging from a nation's level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and the level of respect for human rights. The index has been tested against a range of potential "drivers" or determinants of peace—including levels of democracy and transparency, education and national wellbeing. The data comes from various sources, including the International Institute for Strategic Studies, The World Bank, various bits of the UN offices and Peace Institutes and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The index provides a unique insight into peace around the world. The 2011 data shows that:

• Libya (143) saw the most significant drop – falling 83 places; Bahrain (123) dropped by 51 places – the second largest margin; while Egypt (73) dropped 24 places

• Despite the decade long War on Terror, the likelihood of terrorist attacks has increased in the past year in 29 countries

• Levels of military expenditure as a % of GDP are down and relations between neighbouring states have improved

• 40% of the world's least peaceful countries, including Sudan (151) and Somalia (153) at the bottom, are in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Iraq is no longer at the bottom, for the first time in five years

Steve Killilea of the IEP says it's a dramatic year:

Overall, the levels of global peacefulness have fallen only slightly. However, this year some nations have had the largest-ever drop in peacefulness in the five years of the Index. These dramatic declines have been caused by conflict between citizens and their governments. This is most evident in nations affected by the Arab Spring where the likelihood of violent demonstrations, political instability and violent crime has been the main drivers of decreased peacefulness

Intriguingly, the index also finds the monetary value of peace: they estimate that for 2010, the world could have saved $8.12tn from the cessation of violence.

Even at the most peaceful end, there have been changes. The UK was ranked 26th, up from 31st in 2010 and 49th when the GPI was first compiled in 2007. Ireland was in 11th place, compared to 15th for Germany, 36th for France and 82nd for the USA. Iceland returned to the top spot as most peaceful country in the world, after dropping in the rankings in 2009 and 2010 because of violent demonstrations linked to the collapse of its financial system.

We have the data going back to 2007 below.

It's one of a number of indicators available, such as Transparency International's Corruption Index which collectively build up a qualitative picture of the world we live in.

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Data summary

Global Peace Index 2011 compared Click heading to sort table. Download this data Country 2011 rank 2010 rank 2009 rank 2008 rank 2007 rank Iceland 1 2 4 1 New Zealand 2 1 1 4 2 Japan 3 3 7 5 5 Denmark 4 7 2 2 3 Czech Republic 5 12 11 17 13 Austria 6 4 5 10 10 Finland 7 9 9 8 6 Canada 8 14 8 11 8 Norway 9 5 2 3 1 Slovenia 10 11 10 16 15 Ireland 11 6 12 6 4 Qatar 12 15 17 33 30 Sweden 13 10 6 13 7 Belgium 14 17 15 15 11 Germany 15 16 16 14 12 Switzerland 16 18 18 12 14 Portugal 17 13 14 7 9 Australia 18 19 19 27 25 Malaysia 19 22 26 38 37 Hungary 20 20 27 18 18 Uruguay 21 24 25 21 24 Poland 22 29 32 31 27 Slovakia 23 21 24 20 17 Singapore 24 30 23 29 29 Netherlands 25 27 22 22 20 United Kingdom 26 31 35 49 49 Taiwan 27 35 37 44 36 Spain 28 25 28 30 21 Kuwait 29 39 42 45 46 Vietnam 30 38 39 37 35 Costa Rica 31 26 29 34 31 Laos 32 34 45 51 United Arab Emirates 33 44 41 42 38 Bhutan 34 36 40 26 19 Botswana 35 33 34 46 42 France 36 32 30 36 34 Croatia 37 41 49 60 67 Chile 38 28 20 19 16 Malawi 39 52 47 73 68 Romania 40 45 31 24 26 Oman 41 23 21 25 22 Ghana 42 48 52 40 40 Lithuania 43 42 43 41 43 Tunisia 44 37 44 47 39 Italy 45 40 36 28 33 Latvia 46 54 54 39 47 Estonia 47 46 38 35 28 Mozambique 48 47 53 50 50 Panama 49 61 59 48 45 Korea, South 50 43 33 32 32 Burkina Faso 51 57 71 81 Zambia 52 51 58 53 53 Bulgaria 53 50 56 57 54 Namibia 54 59 65 77 64 Argentina 55 71 66 56 52 Tanzania 56 55 59 58 57 Mongolia 57 92 89 88 Morocco 58 58 63 63 48 Moldova 59 66 75 83 72 Bosnia and Herzegovina 60 60 50 66 75 Sierra Leone 61 53 Gambia 62 Albania 63 65 76 79 Jordan 64 68 64 65 63 Greece 65 62 57 54 44 Paraguay 66 78 73 70 55 Cuba 67 72 68 62 59 Indonesia 68 67 67 68 78 Ukraine 69 97 82 84 80 Swaziland 70 73 Cyprus 71 76 48 52 51 Nicaragua 72 64 61 59 66 Egypt 73 49 54 69 73 Brazil 74 83 85 90 83 Equatorial Guinea 75 69 61 64 71 Bolivia 76 81 81 78 69 Senegal 77 79 80 71 65 Macedonia 78 84 88 87 82 Trinidad and Tobago 79 94 87 98 94 China 80 80 74 67 60 Gabon 81 74 51 55 56 United States 82 85 83 97 96 Bangladesh 83 87 90 86 86 Serbia 84 90 78 85 84 Peru 85 89 79 80 70 Cameroon 86 106 95 92 76 Angola 87 86 100 110 112 Guyana 88 91 97 Montenegro 89 88 91 Ecuador 90 101 109 100 87 Dominican Republic 91 93 70 82 74 Guinea 92 Kazakhstan 93 95 84 72 61 Papua New Guinea 94 95 93 95 88 Nepal 95 82 77 Uganda 96 100 103 114 104 Liberia 97 99 Congo 98 102 106 117 Rwanda 99 75 86 76 Mali 100 109 96 99 Saudi Arabia 101 108 104 108 90 El Salvador 102 103 94 89 89 Tajikistan 103 Eritrea 104 Madagascar 105 77 72 43 41 Jamaica 106 98 102 96 81 Thailand 107 124 118 118 105 Turkmenistan 108 117 101 102 Armenia 109 113 Uzbekistan 109 110 106 111 110 Kenya 111 120 113 119 91 Belarus 112 105 98 94 Haiti 113 114 116 109 Kyrgyzstan 114 Cambodia 115 111 105 91 85 Syria 116 115 92 75 77 Honduras 117 125 112 104 98 South Africa 118 121 123 116 99 Niger 119 Iran 119 104 99 105 97 Mexico 121 107 108 93 79 Azerbaijan 122 119 115 101 101 Bahrain 123 70 69 74 62 Venezuela 124 122 120 123 102 Guatemala 125 112 111 103 93 Sri Lanka 126 133 125 125 111 Turkey 127 126 121 115 92 Cote d' Ivoire 128 118 117 122 113 Algeria 129 116 110 112 107 Mauritania 130 123 124 120 Ethiopia 131 127 128 121 103 Burundi 132 131 127 Myanmar 133 132 126 126 108 Georgia 134 142 134 India 135 128 122 107 109 Philippines 136 130 114 113 100 Lebanon 137 134 132 132 114 Yemen 138 129 119 106 95 Colombia 139 138 130 130 116 Zimbabwe 140 135 135 124 106 Chad 141 141 138 135 Nigeria 142 137 129 129 117 Libya 143 56 46 61 58 Central African Republic 144 136 133 134 Israel 145 144 141 136 119 Pakistan 146 145 137 127 115 Russia 147 143 136 131 118 Congo, Democratic Republic of 148 140 139 128 Korea, North 149 139 131 133 Afghanistan 150 147 143 137 Sudan 151 146 140 138 120 Iraq 152 149 144 140 121 Somalia 153 148 142 139

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