Despite slipping eight places on the 2012 Global Peace Index (GPI) released June 12, 2012, Ghana is seen more peaceful than the United States.

Out of 158 countries worldwide, the country was ranked 50th with a score of 1.807 as against its 42nd position in the 2011 edition of the GPI. The Index uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators which gauge ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society and militarization.

Ghana’s peace placed 5th in sub-Saharan Africa after Mauritius, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia who placed first, second, third and fourth respectively in the region.

The US was ranked 88th globally on the index while Iceland was number one with Somalia at the bottom of the rankings.

US-based Institute for Economics and Peace, which publishes the GPI, said the world has become slightly more peaceful in the past year.

Sub-Saharan Africa experienced a modest rise in peacefulness and, for the first time since the GPI was launched in 2007, it was not ranked the least peaceful region.

This, according to the Institute, was primarily the consequence of a second successive sharp deterioration in the overall score for the Middle East and North Africa region.