The United Arab Emirates has been ranked as the second safest country in the world by a Numbeo survey, second only to Andorra.
The survey highlighted the strong safety performance of the Middle East and North Africa region, with Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain also securing top 20 positions. The United Arab Emirates’s safety ranking remained stable from the previous year, a trend shared by Andorra, Qatar, and Oman. While Saudi Arabia saw a significant improvement in safety, Bahrain’s ranking slightly declined. In contrast, Western powers like the UK and US occupied much lower positions on the list. Surprisingly, Palestine and Ukraine were ranked as safer than many other nations despite their ongoing conflicts. At the bottom of the 147-country list was Venezuela, identified as the least safe.
Numbeo’s crime and safety data, presented in biannual indices, comes from crime-specific surveys conducted among its website visitors. The data used is no more than three years old, and a minimum number of survey participants is required for a city or country to be included in the rankings. The crime index provides an estimation of crime levels on a scale of 1 to 100, with the safety index being its inverse. A notable example is Abu Dhabi (Capital of United Arab Emirates), which recently topped Numbeo’s safest cities list for the ninth consecutive year, demonstrating the highest safety index (88.4) and the lowest crime index (11.6).
According to the Global Peace Index 2024 (released June 2024):
This index by the Institute for Economics & Peace measures the state of peace across three domains: Societal Safety and Security, the extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, and the degree of Militarization. Lower scores indicate a more peaceful country.
Here are the top 10 most peaceful countries according to the 2024 GPI:
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Austria
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- Switzerland
- Portugal
- Denmark
- Slovenia
- Malaysia
According to the Numbeo Safety Index (data from user-contributed surveys):
Numbeo’s index focuses on perceived levels of crime and safety in cities and countries. Higher safety index scores indicate a greater feeling of safety. Please note that their country-level data for 2025 is based on trends and may not be fully finalized.
Here are the top 10 safest countries according to Numbeo’s mid-2025 data (as of late March 2025):
- Andorra
- United Arab Emirates
- Qatar
- Taiwan
- Oman
- Isle Of Man
- Hong Kong (China)
- Armenia
- Singapore
- Japan
Key Takeaways:
Iceland consistently ranks as one of the safest and most peaceful countries globally in the Global Peace Index.
The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman consistently rank very high in safety according to Numbeo’s surveys.
Singapore appears in the top 10 of both lists, indicating a high level of both peace and perceived safety.
European countries generally dominate the top of the Global Peace Index.
The Numbeo index sees a strong representation from Asian and Middle Eastern countries in its top rankings.
It’s important to consider the methodology of each index when interpreting these lists. The Global Peace Index takes a broader view of peacefulness, while Numbeo’s focuses more on citizen and visitor perceptions of crime and safety.
According to the Global Peace Index 2024 (the 2025 report is not yet available but trends often persist):
This index considers factors like societal safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and the degree of militarization. Lower scores indicate a less peaceful country. The 2024 report listed:
- Yemen
- Sudan
- South Sudan
- Afghanistan
- Ukraine
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Russia
- Syria
- Israel
- Mali
According to Numbeo’s Safety Index (data from user-contributed surveys for mid-2025):
Numbeo’s index focuses on perceived levels of crime and safety. Lower safety index scores indicate a greater feeling of unsafety and higher crime rates. While their data is based on perception, it often aligns with areas experiencing significant challenges. Here are the countries with the lowest safety index (highest crime index) according to their mid-2025 data (as of late March 2025):
- Venezuela
- Papua New Guinea
- Haiti
- Afghanistan
- South Africa
- Honduras
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Syria
- Jamaica
- Peru
