Global cost of conflict reaches $14.3tn, says report

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/16/global-cost-conflict-reaches-14tn-says-report



Global Peace Index shows wars wreaking havoc on economies as world spends more than 13% of GDP on costs related to violence

Global cost of conflict reaches $14.3tn, says report
Mark Anderson
17 June 2015 00.01 EDT

The world’s steady shift away from peace and into conflict inflicted a $14.3tn (£9.21tn) cost on the global economy last year, as nations ramped up military spending and more people were driven from their jobs, according to the latest Global Peace Index (GPI).

Fighting in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan had wreaked havoc on economies and helped push the level of peace in the world to its lowest since 2008, the index showed. Providing services for refugees and internally displaced people was one of the biggest costs of last year’s violence.

In 2014, the world spent 13.4% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on costs associated with violence, equivalent to the total economic output of Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the UK, according to the GPI. More than $3tn was poured into military spending.

Syria kept its spot as the world’s least peaceful country. Libya, which has seen deepening sectarian conflict since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, slipped more than any other country in the rankings over the past year, followed by Ukraine, Niger, Djibouti and South Sudan.