Sri Lanka’s rank has slipped five places to 72 among 163 countries on the Global Peace Index 2019, while Iceland remains the most peaceful country and Afghanistan the least peaceful nation, says a report.

Although Sri Lanka’s scores for terrorism impact, the incarceration rate and military expenditure improved, with the recent attack there are some worrying signs for the future, the GPI report noted.

The GPI, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), covers 99.7% of the world’s population in 163 countries, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace using three thematic domains: the level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.

Iceland retained its place as the most peaceful country in the world since 2008, followed by New Zealand, Portugal, Austria and Denmark in the top five.

Afghanistan is now the least peaceful country in the world, replacing Syria, which is now the second least peaceful. South Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq comprise the remaining five least peaceful countries.

In South Asia, Bhutan topped the index with 15th rank, followed by Nepal 76 and Bangladesh 101. The neighboring country India has been ranked 141 on the index.

While global peacefulness improved for the first time in five years, as per the index findings, the world remains less peaceful than a decade ago.