Ireland climbed a number of spots to be named among the top three most peaceful countries.
A new report has named Ireland as being the second most peaceful country in Europe and the third most peaceful in the world.
The Global Peace Index (GPI) is produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) think tank and ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness.
Described as the world's "leading measure of global peacefulness", the GPI uses data-driven analysis to probe "trends in peace, its economic value and how to develop peaceful societies".
Ireland rose five positions from the GPI last year to be named the third most peaceful country in the world, behind New Zealand in second place and Iceland in first.
Iceland has held the position as the most peaceful country since 2008.
Rounding out the top 10 was Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Singapore and Japan.
Meanwhile, named at the bottom of the list at 163 was Afghanistan, which ranked behind Yemen, Syria, Russia and South Sudan.
Also placing low on the GPI was Ukraine, which found itself in 153rd position following the Russian invasion of the country.
In terms of overall trends, the IEP said its report shows that peacefulness has declined to its lowest level in 15 years, with this being fuelled by "post-Covid economic uncertainty" and the Ukraine conflict.
On a more positive note, 70 countries recorded no terrorist attacks in 2021, which is the best result since 2008.
That said, deaths from external conflict recorded a sharp deterioration driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This is as rising costs have increased food insecurity and political instability globally.
You can check out the GPI report in full
here on the IEP's website.
