Misleading: Liberia has not been ranked among the World’s 40 most unsafe countries in recent years

Published: November 6, 2025

A post claiming that Liberia is no longer ranked among the 40 most unsafe countries in the world has gone viral. The claim, which was published on social media by Legit News Africa, was widely shared by some government officials, bloggers, and media outlets, as seen here, here, and here. The claim has gained wide circulation, accumulating 198 comments and 126 shares.

Fact check by: Ralitsa Massah | Intern Fact Checker 

Legit News Africa, a Facebook blog, made this claim on October 28, asserting that the country has seen “significant improvements in security and stability.”

The post cited the 2025 Global Peace Index (GPI) as its source.

An excerpt of the post reads: “Liberia drops off the list of the world’s 40 most unsafe countries for the first time.”

Rating Justification

To verify this claim, we reviewed data from the Global Peace Index (GPI), which is published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). The GPI ranks 163 countries based on 23 indicators across three key domains: Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, Societal Safety and Security, and Militarization.

Each country receives a score ranging from 1.0 (most peaceful) to 5.0 (least peaceful). Data reviewed for Liberia from 2018 to 2025 shows that in 2018, Liberia was ranked 63^rd. The country was ranked 59^th in 2019, 57^th in 2020, 76^th in 2021, and 75^th in 2022.

At the same time, in 2023, it was ranked 70^th, while in 2024, it was 69^th, and in 2025, it is ranked 70^th.

The latest GPI data show that Liberia is ranked 70th in the world — this is 30 places above the 40 least peaceful countries in the world.

Countries that are perceived to be listed among the “40 most unsafe” in the GPI are those ranked between 124 and 163. Liberia’s consistent ranking in the 50s to 70s places it in the medium range, far from the world’s least peaceful nations.

Conclusion

Based on these findings, we conclude that the viral claim indicating that Liberia has dropped off the list of the World’s 40 most unsafe countries for the first time is misleading.

Available data from the Global Peace Index and World Population Review clearly show that in recent years, Liberia has not been among the 40 least peaceful or unsafe countries in the

Editor’s Note:

This fact check was produced by Local Voices Liberia with support from the European Union through the Liberia Media Empowerment Program (LMEP). The funder had no say in the editorial decision leading to the production of this fact-check report.  Read the original fact-check report here.