"There is still widespread fragility and vulnerability, plenty of poverty and inequality, and conflict and illiberalism. But broadly speaking, over the long-term, the world is becoming steadily less fragile. It often takes cold, hard data — like that produced by the FSI — to demonstrate that for all the negative press, there is significant progress occurring in the background."

The most-improved country in 2020 is the Maldives, which continued a long-term trend of near-constant improvement that has seen the country move from being ranked 66th in 2007 (when it was first included in the FSI) to 99th in 2020. Three countries – Sudan, Iraq, and Kenya – tied for second most improved country in 2020, all improving from previous bouts of conflict, instability, and repression.

This year, Yemen claimed the top position for the second time as a result of its continuing civil war and humanitarian catastrophe. Although Yemen’s top ranking may provide cause for idle chatter, really the most attention should be given to its rapid worsening over the past decade, and the regional instability and power plays for which its population are unspeakably suffering.

Among the most improved countries are some that continue to be restrictive, autocratic, and subject to closed civic space. Herein lies an important distinction in reducing fragility over time — when countries begin from a poor starting point, significant gains are much easier to detect and measure and even relatively simple reforms can greatly reduce a country’s fragility.

Over the long-term, former Soviet states continue to dominate the list of most-improved countries, with Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan all ranking among the Top 20. Also among the Top 20 are post-conflict countries, such as Colombia and Sri Lanka. In recovering from conflict, simply not being at war is pretty obviously a significant improvement.