The Cayman Islands was ranked as the most politically stable country worldwide in 2022 ahead of Liechtenstein. The Caribbean island-state is known for its favorable conditions for large international companies and wealthy individuals, with no income and fortune tax.

Lowest stability in Syria

On the other end of the scale, Syria had the lowest political stability. The Middle Eastern-country has been ridden by civil war since 2012, with the Syrian government battling a range of military groups, including the terrorist organization Islamic State.

Fragile State Index

Another way of measuring political stability is the Fragile States Index compiled annually by the Fund for Peace. In 2023, Somalia was ranked as the most fragile state ahead of Yemen. The index measures state fragility on a range of economic, social, and political indicators.

Denmark DK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data was reported at 0.866 NA in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.868 NA for 2016. Denmark DK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging 1.065 NA from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2017, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.527 NA in 2002 and a record low of 0.866 NA in 2017. Denmark DK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Denmark – Table DK.World Bank.WGI: Country Governance Indicators. Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

Mexico MX: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data was reported at -0.647 NA in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of -0.629 NA for 2016. Mexico MX: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging -0.662 NA from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2017, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of -0.056 NA in 2002 and a record low of -0.923 NA in 1996. Mexico MX: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.World Bank.WGI: Country Governance Indicators. Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

In 2023, Sudan had the lowest score in the political stability and absence of violence or terrorism index in North Africa, at minus 2.47 points. Thus, the country was considered completely politically unstable. In that year, all the North African countries recorded negative index values. After the Arab Spring in 2010 and 2011, the political situation and violence/terrorism risk worsened the most for Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt.

Nepal NP: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data was reported at -0.662 NA in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of -0.847 NA for 2016. Nepal NP: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging -1.416 NA from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2017, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of -0.071 NA in 1996 and a record low of -2.149 NA in 2004. Nepal NP: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nepal – Table NP.World Bank.WGI: Country Governance Indicators. Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

In 2023, Mali had the lowest score in the political stability and absence of violence or terrorism index in West Africa, at minus 2.73 points. Therefore, the country was considered completely politically unstable. In that year, all the West African countries recorded negative index values.

Pakistan PK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data was reported at -2.399 NA in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of -2.483 NA for 2016. Pakistan PK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging -2.401 NA from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2017, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of -1.103 NA in 2000 and a record low of -2.810 NA in 2011. Pakistan PK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Pakistan – Table PK.World Bank.WGI: Country Governance Indicators. Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

Poland PL: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data was reported at 0.521 NA in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.507 NA for 2016. Poland PL: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging 0.831 NA from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2017, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.072 NA in 2011 and a record low of 0.153 NA in 2004. Poland PL: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Poland – Table PL.World Bank.WGI: Country Governance Indicators. Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

Nigeria: Political stability index (-2.5 weak; 2.5 strong): The latest value from 2023 is -1.77 points, an increase from -1.78 points in 2022. In comparison, the world average is -0.06 points, based on data from 193 countries. Historically, the average for Nigeria from 1996 to 2023 is -1.81 points. The minimum value, -2.21 points, was reached in 2010 while the maximum of -0.59 points was recorded in 1998.

Hong Kong SAR HK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data was reported at 0.847 NA in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.751 NA for 2016. Hong Kong SAR HK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging 0.949 NA from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2017, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.337 NA in 2005 and a record low of 0.577 NA in 1996. Hong Kong SAR HK: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Hong Kong SAR – Table HK.World Bank.WGI: Country Governance Indicators. Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

In 2023, Somalia had the lowest score in the political stability and absence of violence or terrorism index in East Africa, at minus 2.38 points. Thus, the country was considered completely politically unstable. In that year, a few East African countries recorded positive index values, with Mauritius achieving the highest score of 0.78 points.

The average for 2023 based on 28 countries was -1.3 points. The highest value was in Rwanda: 0.11 points and the lowest value was in Syria: -2.75 points. The indicator is available from 1996 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2023, the Central African Republic had the lowest score in the political stability and absence of violence or terrorism index in Central Africa, at minus 2.2 points. As a consequence, the country was considered completely politically unstable. In the period under review, two Central African countries recorded positive index values, with São Tomé and Príncipe and the Republic of Congo achieving scores of 0.44 points and 0.02 points, respectively.

Syria was ranked as the politically least stable country worldwide in 2022 ahead of Afghanistan and Somalia. The country has been ridden by civil war since 2012, with the Syrian government battling a range of different factions.

Syrian Civil War has resulted in large number of refugees

The ongoing fighting and resulting instability in Syria has led to 6.5 million people fleeing the country, making it the largest source country of refugees worldwide. Over half of the Syrian refugees today live in neighboring Turkey.

Fragile State Index

Another way of measuring political stability is the Fragile States Index compiled annually by the Fund for Peace. In 2023, Somalia was ranked as the most fragile state ahead of Yemen. The index measures state fragility on a range of economic, social, and political indicators.

This dataset provides values for POLITICAL STABILITY AND ABSENCE OF VIOLENCE TERRORISM PERCENTILE RANK UPPER BOUND OF 90PERCENT CONFIDENCE INTERVAL WB DATA.NEW ONE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

This dataset provides values for POLITICAL STABILITY AND ABSENCE OF VIOLENCE TERRORISM PERCENTILE RANK UPPER BOUND OF 90PERCENT CONFIDENCE INTERVAL WB DATA.HTML reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

About the Project The project explores alternative methods of measuring economic diversification and investigating its associated impacts on the Saudi Arabian economy and other GCC countries. By utilizing a financial portfolio framework reconciled with economic growth theory, the economy is viewed as a portfolio of economic sectors, each contributing to the overall output growth. Results demonstrated that diversification policies have been effective, as the economy moves towards higher growth with lower instability. Key Points Evidence confirms that there is a positive correlation between the economic growth rate and its volatility/risk in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. In other words, there is a trade-off between the benefits of oil and gas activity and the volatility resulting from unpredictable commodity price swings in such resource dependent economies. Our analysis uses a financial portfolio framework approach (and more specifically an efficient frontier analysis), treating economic sectors as individual investments. We calculate a relative risk measure termed the ‘beta coefficient’ and assemble a portfolio of sectors with varying weights to find the efficient frontier. If the beta of the portfolio representing the economy is above global average, the economy will generally grow faster than the global average but with greater volatility – the upturns will be higher and the downturns deeper. We aim to shed light on diversification policy from this novel, if not yet widely accepted, perspective. The GCC economies exhibit ‘high beta,’ particularly Qatar. Saudi Arabia sits in the middle of the group, but above the global average, while Oman has the lowest coefficient of the group. Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Plan to 2020 and economic Vision 2030 envisage an economy that is still invested in oil and gas activity at 45 percent of total output. While diversification policies in these plans promote economic growth, it still leaves the economy exposed to the volatility of energy markets. In comparison, the optimal mix of economic sectors could increase the growth rate by more than 1 percent annually and nearly halve the expected volatility (to less than 60 percent of growth rate). Saudi Arabia’s historical economic policies were effective in achieving some diversification. However, their benefits could be increased by policies that balance productive efficiency with diversification of economic activity. The difference between policy-optimized portfolio and non-constrained optimization can be used to estimate the size of the fiscal stabilization fund needed to protect the economy from stop/go risks to diversification objectives.

Switzerland Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data was reported at 1.209 NA in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.306 NA for 2016. Switzerland Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data is updated yearly, averaging 1.306 NA from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2017, with 19 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.580 NA in 2000 and a record low of 1.198 NA in 2005. Switzerland Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Switzerland – Table CH.World Bank.WGI: Country Governance Indicators. Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

This dataset provides values for POLITICAL STABILITY AND ABSENCE OF VIOLENCE TERRORISM PERCENTILE RANK UPPER BOUND OF 90PERCENT CONFIDENCE INTERVAL WB DATA.NEW ONE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

According to the 2023 Infrastructure Index, Singapore had the best overall political stability of the 40 countries ranked in the index. The three Nordic countries Finland, Norway, and Sweden followed behind. The index ranks the attractiveness in countries based on nine different criteria, including economic status, political stability, and private participation. Germany topped the index in 2023.