According to the Global Peace Index 2024, which of the following statements…

Concept: The Global Peace Index (GPI), published every year by the Institute for Economics & Peace, scores 163 states and territories on 23 indicators that are grouped into three separate domains — Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, Societal Safety and Security, and Militarisation. The scale is inverted: a lower score means a more peaceful country, so a rising score records a deterioration.

Because the three domains are scored independently, a long-run trend can move in opposite directions across them. An overall fall in peacefulness therefore does not require every domain to fall — the aggregate is the net of domains that worsened and domains that improved.

Application: Over the 2008–2024 series the GPI 2024 report records the following domain movements.

Two domains worsened and one improved, and the deterioration in Ongoing Conflict is large enough to dominate the aggregate: average country peacefulness deteriorated by about 4.5% between 2008 and 2024.

Cross-check: testing the other statements against the same series.

• “All three GPI domains have steadily improved since 2008” — contradicted by the table above; two of the three domains registered deterioration over the period.

• “The average country score has improved by 4.5% since 2008” — the 4.5% figure is real but its direction is reversed; the report records a 4.5% deterioration in average peacefulness, not an improvement.

• “The number of countries showing improvement exceeds those showing deterioration” — over 2008–2024 about 95 countries deteriorated against about 66 that improved, and in the 2024 edition alone 97 deteriorated against 65 that improved.

Result: the statement that matches the GPI 2024 findings is that Ongoing Conflict and Safety & Security have deteriorated since 2008 while Militarisation has improved.