Dominican Republic falls 10 places in 2026 Global Peace Index
Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Republic fell 10 positions in the 2026 Global Peace Index (GPI), moving from 79th place in 2025 to 89th among 163 countries, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
The country’s overall score increased from 1.996 to 2.038, with a higher score indicating a lower level of peace. The IEP reported that the Dominican Republic experienced the largest deterioration in peace in North and Central America, with a 4.7% decline over the past year.
The main factor behind the drop was the “Ongoing Conflict” category, whose score worsened from 1.604 to 1.916, a deterioration of approximately 19.5%. The report recorded 40 deaths linked to violent conflict in the Dominican Republic during 2025, most of them associated with organized crime.
However, the IEP noted that this deterioration does not necessarily represent a long-term increase in lethal violence. The Dominican Republic’s homicide rate has fallen by more than half over the past decade.
Other components of the index showed improvement. The country’s Security and Social Protection score improved from 2.538 to 2.414, while its Militarization score edged down from 1.588 to 1.577, indicating progress in both areas. These gains, however, were outweighed by the deterioration in the conflict category.
The decline also affected the country’s regional standing. After ranking third in North and Central America in 2025, behind Canada and Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic dropped to seventh in 2026, behind Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama and Guatemala.
The GPI evaluates 163 countries using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators covering security and social protection, ongoing domestic and international conflicts, and militarization. As a result, the ranking is not simply a measure of crime or homicide rates, but a broader assessment of peace, stability and conflict.
The 2026 results therefore present a mixed picture for the Dominican Republic: while the country has achieved long-term reductions in homicides and improved its security indicators, the sharp increase in the violent-conflict component led to a significant decline in its overall position.
