Qatar Named Most Peaceful Country in the Middle East and North Africa

Qatar has been ranked the most peaceful country in the Middle East and North Africa in the 2026 Global Peace Index, the annual assessment published by the Institute for Economics and Peace. With an overall score of 1.676 — where a lower score denotes greater peacefulness — Qatar placed 31st out of the 163 countries the index covers, the highest position of any of the region's 20 nations.

Qatar finished ahead of its Gulf neighbours Kuwait, which ranked second in the region with a score of 1.813 and 49th globally, and Oman, third on 1.850. Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia rounded out the upper half of the regional table, while Saudi Arabia placed ninth and Bahrain tenth among the MENA states.

The standing is notable given the wider regional picture. The Institute again identified the Middle East and North Africa as the least peaceful region in the world on the 2026 index, with the average country score deteriorating slightly over the year. The region also recorded the widest internal gap of any in the world, stretching from Qatar in 31st place to Sudan, ranked 162nd and the second least peaceful country globally.

The Global Peace Index measures peacefulness across three domains — societal safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and militarisation — using 23 indicators. The Institute noted that the war involving Iran, which began in February 2026, fell largely outside the report's measurement period and is therefore mostly uncaptured in this year's scores.

For Qatar, the result reinforces a reputation for stability that the state has sought to project as central to its economic and diplomatic standing. The ranking was welcomed by Qatari officials as evidence of the country's record on security and quality of life, even as the Institute cautioned that peacefulness across the region as a whole continued to erode.