The 2010 Global Peace Index has been published by Sydney, Autralia-based Institute for Economics and Peace annually ranks 149 countries based on a range of variables, including corruption, crime rates, military spending and access to primary education.

The global scores showed increased instability in the world.  As stated in the opening words of GPI’s Executive Summary, “the results of the Global Peace Index (GPI) for 2010 suggest that the world has become slightly less peaceful in the past year. The GPI, which gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society and militarisation in 149 countries, registered overall increases in several indicators, including the likelihood of violent demonstrations and perceptions of criminality. In some nations, an intensification of conflicts and growing instability appears to be linked to the global economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009.”

Costa Rica again continued its strong position as #1 in Central America, #3 in all of the Americas (behind only Canada #14 and Uruguay #24), and ranked 26th overall.  The United States fared measurably worse, ranking 85th on the list, well below both of Costa Rica’s closest and slightly more volatile neighbors Nicaragua (64th) and Panama (61st).

The GPI commented specifically on Costa Rica’s improved ranking; “Costa Rica’s high ranking in the GPI (it rose 3 places in 2010 to 26th) partly reflects very low scores for almost all its measures of militarisation, in step with the abolition of the country’s army at the end of the civil war in 1948. Costa Rica’s relations with neighbouring countries are adjudged to have improved last year and violent crime was perceived to have fallen to a relatively low level (Cuba continues to receive the lowest score in Latin America for this indicator).”

Costa Rica’s average score was 1.59, based on a 1-5 scoring system for the following measurements:

• Perceptions of criminality in society

• Number of refugees and displaced people as a percentage of the population

• Political instability

• Level of respect for human rights

• Potential for terrorist acts (Political Terror Scale)

• Number of homicides per 100,000 people

• Level of violent crime

• Likelihood of violent demonstrations

• Number of jailed population per 100,000 people

• Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people

• Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP

• Number of armed services personnel per 100,000 people

• Volume of transfers (imports) of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people

• Volume of transfers (exports) of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people

• Budget support for UN peacekeeping missions: percentage of outstanding payments versus annual assessment to the budget of the current peacekeeping missions

• Aggregate number of heavy weapons per 100,000 people

• Ease of access to small arms and light weapons

Rank Country Score

1 New Zealand 1.188

2 Iceland 1.212

3 Japan 1.247

4 Austria 1.290

5 Norway 1.322

6 Ireland 1.337

7 Denmark 1.341

7 Luxembourg 1.341

9 Finland 1.352

10 Sweden 1.354

11 Slovenia 1.358

12 Czech Republic 1.360

13 Portugal 1.366

14 Canada 1.392

15 Qatar 1.394

16 Germany 1.398

17 Belgium 1.400

18 Switzerland 1.424

19 Australia 1.467

20 Hungary 1.495

21 Slovakia 1.536

22 Malaysia 1.539

23 Oman 1.561

24 Uruguay 1.568

25 Spain 1.588

26 Costa Rica 1.590

27 Netherlands 1.610

28 Chile 1.616

29 Poland 1.618

30 Singapore 1.624

The Institute for Economics and Peace is an independent not-for-profit research institute dedicated to developing the inter-relationships between business, peace and economic development.