Afghanistan ranked as the world’s seventh least peaceful country in the 2026 Global Peace Index, remaining near the bottom of a global ranking that measures security, conflict and militarization.
The annual report, released Thursday by the Institute for Economics and Peace, placed Afghanistan 157th among 163 countries and territories assessed.
Only South Sudan, Israel, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Russia ranked lower.
According to the report, Afghanistan’s overall peace score deteriorated by 0.5 percent over the past year, although the country recorded modest improvements in some indicators, including safety and security, which improved by 1.5 percent, and political instability, which improved by 10 percent.
The report attributed those gains largely to the Taliban’s consolidation of control over political institutions and security structures, as well as a decline in organized opposition.
However, the index warned that the Taliban’s monopoly on power, political restrictions and Afghanistan’s continuing international isolation could undermine long-term stability.
The report also found a 1.9 percent deterioration in Afghanistan’s measure of ongoing conflict. Deaths linked to external conflicts rose by 19.2 percent, a trend the report associated with border clashes and heightened tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Afghanistan remained the least peaceful country in South Asia, according to the index.
Elsewhere in the region, Sri Lanka recorded the strongest improvement, with its peace score rising 2.3 percent and its global ranking improving to 67th.
The report found that global peacefulness declined for a 12th consecutive year. Of the 163 countries surveyed, 99 experienced a deterioration in peace, while 62 improved.
It also noted that 119 countries are now less peaceful than they were in 2008.
The Global Peace Index cited the rise in armed conflicts, intensifying competition among major powers and the spread of emerging military technologies, including artificial intelligence-based systems, as key factors driving the global decline in peace.
Despite limited improvements in some domestic indicators, the report concluded that Afghanistan remains among the countries facing the most severe challenges to peace and stability.
