Safest Countries to Live in the World Index | Where Can I Live

Which are the safest countries to live in the world? We’ve crunched the data to create the Where Can I Live Safest Countries to Live Index. We use official statistics for the definitive list of the safest places to move to. We measure the risk of violence, crime rates, healthcare, societal stability, and natural disasters.

The Top 20 Safest Countries to Live In

1. Singapore
2. Iceland
3. Denmark
4. Finland
5. Switzerland
6. Norway
7. Austria
8. Sweden
9. Ireland
10. Japan
11. Germany
12. Netherlands
13. New Zealand
14. Portugal
15. Czech Republic
16. Canada
17. Slovenia
18. Belgium
19. Australia
20. Spain

Our new index kicked up some surprises for the safest place to live in the world! What wasn’t a surprise is that many of the Top 20 also make our list of the best countries for Expats.

The Safest Countries to live in Europe

The top five are from Northern Europe and the Nordics and have topped the table for many years.

1. Iceland (Where Can I Live Rank 2)
2. Denmark (3)
3. Finland (4)
4. Switzerland (5)
5. Norway (6)

As a continent, Europe tops our rankings by far and is the safest place to live in the world. Fifteen of the top 20 countries are from Europe, and twelve are European Union (E.U.) member nations.

What do these countries have in common?

They all have stable governance, are relatively prosperous, and have lower levels of inequality than other comparable economies. Their spending on healthcare, education, and modern thinking on crime prevention all contribute. After a terrible early impact, the general response to the COVID-19 pandemic was strong.

As a continent, Europe suffers from fewer natural disasters than other parts of the world.

The cultures range widely, from the Nordics to the Mediterranean. Population sizes vary considerably, from Iceland, with just 300,000 citizens, to 84 million in Germany.

All are democracies, although some still have constitutional monarchies.

The Safest Countries to Live in Asia

1. Singapore (Where Can I Live Rank 1)
2. Japan (10)
3. South Korea (21)
4. Malaysia (33)
5. Vietnam (48)

Five diverse Asian powerhouses head up the list. Singapore and Japan have been in the Top 20 for many years and look set to continue.

The Safest Countries to Live in Central & South America

1. Uruguay (Where Can I Live Rank 31)
2. Costa Rica (36)
3. Chile (40)
4. Argentina (44)
5. Panama (49)

Uruguay continues to build a reputation as a secure Expat destination. Costa Rica’s demilitarized policy definitely contributes to its excellent reputation.

The Safest Countries in Africa

1. Mauritius (Where Can I Live Rank 39)
2. Botswana (56)
3. Tunisia (65)
4. Ghana (66)

Mauritius is another destination attracting growing numbers of Expats. In no small part, this is because of the safe and stable society. Botswana has long been a stable democracy with strong growth.

The Safest Places to Live in the Middle East

1. Qatar (Where Can I Live Rank 22)
2. Kuwait (38)
3. United Arab Emirates (42)

The countries of the Middle East come with a strong caveat. LGBTQI+ and women face different dangers. All potential Expats should consider the societal and legal norms of these countries.

The Best of the Rest

1. New Zealand (Where Can I Live Rank 13)
2. Canada (16)
3. Australia (19)

New Zealand and Australia have long-standing reputations as safe and stable democracies. Both countries do have areas at risk of natural disasters. Australia is one of the countries most likely to be negatively impacted by climate change.

Canada also has areas at high risk of natural disasters, but rates strongly in most other areas.

7 Safest and Cheapest Places to Live in the World

We used the Where Can I Live Cheapest Countries to Live Index for this list. To qualify, countries must be in the Top 50 Safest Countries and the Top 60 Cheapest Countries. Here are the results, ranked by safety.

#	Country	WCIL Safest Index Rank	WCIL Cheapest Index Rank	Cost of Living vs USA	Cost of Living vs Germany
1	Malaysia	34	28	42%	52%
2	Bulgaria	42	37	44%	55%
3	Romania	43	33	43%	53%
4	Argentina	44	57	52%	64%
5	Serbia	46	36	44%	54%
6	Montenegro	48	43	47%	58%
7	Vietnam	50	46	48%	59%

The Safest and Happiest Countries in the World

We cross-referenced our data for the Safest Countries with the renowned World Happiness Report 2022. The result confirmed our suspicions – being safe has a big impact on happiness. The Top 5 Happiest Countries in the world all rank in our Top 15 Safest Countries to Live.

1. Finland (4th Safest Country to Live)
2. Denmark (3rd Safest Country to Live)
3. Iceland (2nd Safest Country to Live)
4. Switzerland (5th Safest Country to Live)
5. Netherlands (12th Safest Country to Live)

And is the USA a safe place to live?

The United States of America (U.S.A.) comes in at position fifty-eight. A high prosperity score is offset by lower scores from the Global Peace Index and higher environmental risks.

The environmental risk figure may be misleading. The USA has a massive range of environments, so Florida’s hurricanes, California’s wildfires, Texan droughts, and Mississippi floods are all counted.

How did we choose the safest place to live in the world?

We looked at the four most important factors for your personal safety. We researched each element’s most respected and up-to-date statistics, giving us our index. Please see Appendix 1 for our detailed methodology.

1) Crime and Violence

The first pillar of our Safest Countries to Live Index is the most important. Are citizens under threat from people in their own country? This takes in crime rate, homicide and other violent crime rates, terrorist threats, and more.

Our source for Crime and Violence Statistics

• The internationally recognized 2022 Global Peace Index was produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP).
• The US State Department Travel Advisory (As of October 2022).

2) Healthcare and Health Outcomes

Being safe from disease and preventable death is the next pillar of our index. Critically, if you fall ill, there is an accessible, high-quality healthcare system to support you. A disease that is trivial in Portugal may be fatal in Afghanistan.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest current global health challenges. We use COVID-19 vaccination rates to measure a country’s resilience to the disease.

Our source for Healthcare and Health Outcomes

• The health pillar of the Legatum Prosperity Report for 2021 measures health outcomes, mortality rates, illness, and health system quality.
• We use the country-level COVID-19 vaccination rate data collated by Our World in Data.

3) Governance and Living Conditions

“A hungry man is an angry man.” is a wise old proverb. Countries with strong government institutions and living conditions tend to develop less crime and civil unrest. A prosperous and equitable economy is a good indication of a country’s future safety and security.

Note: This ranking does not look at democracy and freedom. It only ranks stability as a measure of safety. For this reason, some countries with low democratic scores can still rank highly.

Our source for Governance and Living Conditions

The 2021 Legatum Prosperity index is our source for this information. The Legatum Institute is a globally recognized researcher in global prosperity for policy direction. We combine the Governance and Living Conditions pillars.

4) Natural Disaster Risk and Readiness

Floods, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and earthquakes are all major safety risks. The readiness of a country to respond to these natural disasters is vital to minimize the impact.

Climate change is accelerating many extreme weather events globally. With global heating trends set to continue, the importance of this risk will grow in the coming years.

Our source for ecological threat nation disaster response readiness

The 2022 Global Risks Report is produced by the World Economic Forum (W.E.F.).

What are the limitations of the data?

We think our index is the most well-balanced view of how safe a country is. However, it isn’t perfect… Here are the things we know should be considered.

1. Not all countries and territories in the world are represented. We’ve excluded countries where data is incomplete or unreliable. This mainly impacts smaller countries, including many in the Caribbean.
2. We don’t look at the risk range of a country. What does that mean?
   • Expats in Panama report being very relaxed in many areas of the country. However, parts of Colón and the Darién Gap are exceptionally dangerous.
   • In New Zealand, the city of Dunedin on the South Island has a much higher earthquake threat than Hamilton on the North Island.
3. Different choices impact your exposure to different dangers. We can’t factor these into our figures in a meaningful way.
4. We don’t measure for subgroups. For example, LGBTQI+ Expats may face a raft of challenges to their well-being that others do not face. Countries that are safe for men may be less safe for women. In some countries, the practice of unsanctioned religions or atheism can be a threat.
5. We don’t account for the impacts of current geopolitical issues. See our section on the war in Ukraine for more information.

The War in Ukraine

It is impossible to include the risks of a conflict like the war in Ukraine. Obviously, there are massive impacts on the safety and security of the citizens and infrastructure of Ukraine. However, there are other factors.

• Finland and Sweden joined NATO in response to Russian aggression, and the outcome of this action is unknown.
• Neighbors like Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland could be at risk of fallout in the event of a nuclear attack.
• The Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have strongly opposed Russian aggression. The impact of this stance is unknown.

Our index cannot account for the uncertainty and fluidity of these types of conflict.

The 7 most dangerous countries to live

The countries with the lowest scores all have failed governance, internal conflict, and very low economic activity.

1. Somalia (Where Can I Live Rank 139)
2. Yemen (138)
3. Afghanistan (137)
4. Sudan (136)
5. Haiti (135)
6. Mali (134)
7. Chad (133)

Want to move to the safest place to live in the world?

Use the Where Can I Live Country Explorer to find out more. We cover visas, residency permits, citizenship, and much more. We also have moving guides and in-depth reports on Expat life in many of the countries in our index.

Your location and how you plan your lifestyle make a massive difference to your personal safety. Because of this, we always suggest talking to Expats in the country for an accurate view of the risks and dangers. They’ll be able to compare their experiences in their new and old homes to give you great insights. Just reading the news can be very misleading!

We’ve been really surprised by some results, while others confirmed our guesses. For now, these are the safest countries to live in the world.

FAQ – Safest Country to Live Index

Appendix 1 – Index Methodology

We’ve chosen the statistics from expert international organizations with expertise in safety and security. All are available for public access and review. These are the six sources (in order of importance).

1. Global Peace Index 2021 Ranking (Possible 600 points)
2. Legatum 2021 Health Pillar Score (Possible 300 points)
3. Legatum Governance + Living Conditions Pillar Scores (Possible 300 points)
4. US State Department Travel Advisory October 2022 (Possible 200 Points)
5. Our World in Data Covid-19 Vaccination Rates per 100 people October 2022 (Possible 200 points)
6. World Economic Forum 2022 Natural Disaster Risk and Readiness (Possible 100 points)

Appendix 2 – Where Can I Live Rankings of 139 countries with complete data

Rank	Country	Region	WCIL Index Score
1	Singapore	Asia	1696.6
2	Iceland	Europe	1679.5
3	Denmark	Europe	1674.4
4	Finland	Europe	1656.9
5	Switzerland	Europe	1648.8
6	Norway	Europe	1632.0
7	Austria	Europe	1629.2
8	Sweden	Europe	1607.6
9	Ireland	Europe	1607.0
10	Japan	Asia	1596.6
11	Germany	Europe	1582.5
12	Netherlands	Europe	1573.6
13	New Zealand	Oceania	1572.4
14	Portugal	Europe	1555.4
15	Czech Republic	Europe	1541.4
16	Canada	North America	1533.6
17	Slovenia	Europe	1529.3
18	Belgium	Europe	1526.8
19	Australia	Oceania	1519.3
20	Spain	Europe	1471.2
21	South Korea	Asia	1468.7
22	Qatar	MEA	1468.3
23	United Kingdom	Europe	1466.6
24	Estonia	Europe	1454.6
25	Italy	Europe	1422.2
26	Slovakia	Europe	1417.4
27	Hungary	Europe	1382.8
28	Croatia	Europe	1368.5
29	Poland	Europe	1366.1
30	France	Europe	1364.9
31	Uruguay	South America	1361.9
32	Lithuania	Europe	1352.9
33	Malaysia	Asia	1349.2
34	Latvia	Europe	1347.1
35	Cyprus	Europe	1341.6
36	Costa Rica	Central America	1327.4
37	Greece	Europe	1305.8
38	Kuwait	MEA	1305.6
39	Mauritius	MEA	1303.3
40	Chile	South America	1290.4
41	Bulgaria	Europe	1262.0
42	United Arab Emirates	MEA	1244.4
43	Romania	Europe	1243.5
44	Argentina	South America	1206.5
45	Israel	MEA	1166.0
46	Montenegro	Europe	1152.7
47	Serbia	Europe	1140.2
48	Vietnam	Asia	1137.3
49	Panama	Central America	1116.1
50	Mongolia	Asia	1086.7
51	Oman	MEA	1083.6
52	Bahrain	MEA	1080.6
53	Albania	Europe	1072.0
54	Jordan	MEA	1065.3
55	China	Asia	1061.6
56	Botswana	MEA	1048.8
57	Armenia	Europe	1042.1
58	United States of america	North America	1026.6
59	Indonesia	Asia	1019.3
60	Sri Lanka	Asia	998.7
61	Paraguay	South America	987.3
62	Thailand	Asia	975.7
63	Kazakhstan	Europe	967.4
64	Cuba	Central America	964.6
65	Tunisia	MEA	957.4
66	Ghana	MEA	957.0
67	Moldova	Europe	952.0
68	Jamaica	Central America	945.9
69	Morocco	MEA	941.5
70	Georgia	Europe	937.7
71	Ecuador	South America	928.6
72	Rwanda	MEA	922.7
73	Uzbekistan	Asia	903.8
74	Brazil	South America	896.3
75	Dominican Republic	Central America	895.3
76	Peru	South America	893.1
77	Nepal	Asia	887.9
78	Turkmenistan	Asia	884.4
79	Namibia	MEA	865.5
80	Cambodia	Asia	863.8
81	Belarus	Europe	816.2
82	Bolivia	South America	809.8
83	Senegal	MEA	807.6
84	Zambia	MEA	798.9
85	Tajikistan	Asia	793.3
86	Colombia	South America	777.4
87	Mexico	Central America	764.0
88	Turkey	Europe	756.9
89	El Salvador	Central America	741.9
90	Guyana	South America	736.7
91	Algeria	MEA	735.6
92	Malawi	MEA	732.4
93	Bangladesh	Asia	716.2
94	Azerbaijan	Asia	714.1
95	India	Asia	708.8
96	Liberia	MEA	702.0
97	Philippines	Asia	701.9
98	South Africa	MEA	701.4
99	Gabon	MEA	683.0
100	Tanzania	MEA	681.7
101	Sierra Leone	MEA	680.4
102	Benin	MEA	665.9
103	Lesotho	MEA	650.8
104	Nicaragua	Central America	632.7
105	Eswatini	MEA	625.3
106	Lebanon	MEA	600.0
107	Guatemala	Central America	581.1
108	Kenya	MEA	580.8
109	Togo	MEA	574.1
110	Djibouti	MEA	563.4
111	Honduras	Central America	562.3
112	Angola	MEA	561.3
113	Iran	MEA	531.2
114	Ukraine	Europe	511.9
115	Egypt	MEA	508.0
116	Madagascar	MEA	496.9
117	Zimbabwe	MEA	474.2
118	Uganda	MEA	467.2
119	Mozambique	MEA	449.0
120	Mauritania	MEA	435.2
121	Guinea	MEA	431.1
122	Pakistan	Asia	428.7
123	Ethiopia	MEA	368.0
124	Guinea-Bissau	MEA	364.5
125	Myanmar	Asia	358.4
126	Niger	MEA	335.9
127	Venezuela	South America	335.1
128	Cameroon	MEA	311.3
129	Eritrea	MEA	304.5
130	Iraq	MEA	294.6
131	Nigeria	MEA	288.6
132	Burundi	MEA	281.6
133	Chad	MEA	237.9
134	Mali	MEA	236.8
135	Haiti	Central America	192.6
136	Sudan	MEA	154.1
137	Afghanistan	Asia	127.3
138	Yemen	MEA	48.2
139	Somalia	MEA	44.4