What is the safest country in each region of Europe?

Switzerland leads Western Europe (98.5), Norway Northern Europe (98.1), Czechia Eastern Europe (90.0) and Slovenia Southern Europe (90.3). Regions follow the UN geoscheme, with Cyprus and Turkey counted in Southern Europe.

Is Turkey safe to visit?

Turkey scores 73.1 out of 100 and ranks 36th of the 41 European countries. It scores 93.4 on public safety and 100 on cybersecurity, but 31.0 on political stability, one of the lowest in Europe. The score is national: conditions vary between regions, especially near the borders, so check your government's travel advice for your itinerary.

Which European countries are safest for tourists?

The ten highest scores in Europe belong to Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany. The index measures general safety for travellers at national level; always check official advice for the regions you plan to visit.

How does Europe compare with other continents?

On the same world scale, Europe's 41 countries average 85.5 out of 100, against 70.3 for Oceania, 68.4 for Asia, 56.0 for the Americas and 48.4 for Africa. Europe has the highest continental average on every pillar except political stability, where Oceania is slightly ahead (71.7 against 69.0).

HelloSafe Safety Index2026 edition · 41 European countries · 5 pillars

The safest countries in Europe in 2026

Safest European countries in 2026: 41 countries ranked and scored out of 100 on public safety, health, stability, climate and cyber. Switzerland is first.

Global top 3 · 2026score /100

90–10080–9070–80under 70

A. Fruchard
Co-Founder & Travel Insurance Expert

Last updated: November 2, 2026100 % public, traceable data

Key facts to remember

The index in 30 seconds

41European countries ranked, on the world index scale

85.5Europe's average score /100, the highest of any continent

98.5Switzerland, the safest country in Europe

20countries published, the 5 safest of each region

Key takeaways · 20-second read

Switzerland (98.5), Norway (98.1) and Sweden (97.4) are the three safest countries in Europe, and 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the world.
Seven of the world's ten safest countries are European: Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Luxembourg.
Western Europe has the highest regional average (93.9), just ahead of Northern Europe (93.2). Eastern Europe has the lowest (77.1).
Region leaders: Slovenia (90.3) in Southern Europe and Czechia (90.0) in Eastern Europe.
Political stability makes the difference: 69.0/100 on average, against 97.5 for public safety, where 40 of the 41 countries score 90 or more.

How is the index built? See the methodology ↓

01 · Europe ranking

2026 Europe ranking

Every published European country ranked on the same 0–100 score as our ranking of the safest countries in the world, with its place among the 181 countries of the world index. Click a country for its five pillar scores.

Search a country…

#1 in Europe · #1 in Western Europe · #2 worldwide

Switzerland

98.5/10090–100

Switzerland scores 98.5/100, #1 in Europe, #1 in Western Europe and #2 worldwide. Its strongest pillar is Environmental risk (100.0), its weakest Cybersecurity (90.4). Once there, prefer mobile data to public Wi-Fi for payments.

Pillar breakdown

Public safety & crime 35 %99.2

Health security 25 %99.7

Political stability 20 %96.6

Environmental risk 15 %100.0

Cybersecurity 5 %90.4

Pillar scores on 100, weighted into the overall 98.5.

Insurance for Switzerland →

02 · Where the safe countries are

The geography of safety in Europe

Every published country in its tier colour. Click a tier to show or hide it, click a country for its rank and score.

Showing 30 of 30 published countries · click a country for its info

Why are some countries grey? All 41 European countries are scored, but this page shows the 5 safest of each region, 20 in all. The 21 others stay in the dataset and are not mapped. Some score high and still miss the cut in a strong region: Ireland (94.1) and the United Kingdom (93.7) in Northern Europe, France (90.7) and Belgium (90.0) in Western Europe. What this study does not show ↓

03 · Regional rankings

Safest countries by region of Europe

Europe's four regions, as defined by the UN, each ranked on its own: every country with its rank in its region, in Europe and worldwide. Western Europe leads on average (93.9), ahead of Northern Europe (93.2), Southern Europe (81.9) and Eastern Europe (77.1).

Northern Europe · average 93.2 · 10 countries scored, 5 published

Safest countries in Northern Europe

1Norway98.1#2
2Sweden97.4#3
3Finland96.8#4
4Denmark96.6#5
5Iceland96.2#6

Reader service: even in the safest countries of the world, a hospital stay or a flight home is expensive. The European Health Insurance Card covers public care only, at local rates, and never repatriation. Compare policies by medical limit with our travel insurance comparison.

Reading the results

What separates Europe's safest countries

Public safety is high almost everywhere: 97.5 out of 100 on average, and 40 of the 41 countries score 90 or more. Only Russia is below, at 85.7. On this pillar, European countries can hardly be told apart.

Political stability decides the ranking: 69.0 on average. Luxembourg (97.2), Switzerland (96.6), Iceland (96.2) and Norway (96.3) lead; Russia (21.8), Turkey (31.0), Belarus (33.3) and Ukraine (34.8) have the lowest scores.

Southern Europe pays for its stability score: Spain and Italy score above 99 on public safety and above 94 on health security, but 67.9 and 67.1 on political stability. That is why they rank 18th and 19th in Europe, behind Czechia and Slovenia.

Health security splits east and west: 85.0 on average, with Switzerland (99.7), Sweden (98.1) and Norway (97.7) at the top and Russia (64.1), Moldova (66.3) and Ukraine (69.1) at the bottom.

04 · How we score

Methodology

Built by HelloSafe's travel insurance team, independently of our comparison. The scores are those of the world Safety Index: a country carries the same score, on the same scale, on both pages. Every figure comes from a public international dataset, so the ranking can be reproduced from the sources.

Score /100= weighted sum35 %Public safety & crime25 %Health security20 %Political stability15 %Environmental risk5 %Cybersecurity

SourcesUNODC, World Bank WGI, WHO, ITU GCI, ND-GAIN. Regions: UN geoscheme (M49), with Cyprus and Turkey in Southern Europe.

ProcessingMin-max 0–100 across the 181 countries of the world index, negatives inverted, outliers winsorised.

RobustnessRank correlation of 0.99 with equal weights across the 41 European countries; 9 of the top 10 stay the same.

Formula Safety Index = 0.35 × Safety + 0.25 × Health + 0.20 × Stability + 0.15 × Environment + 0.05 × Cyber

What this study does not show

Only the 5 safest countries of each region are published (20 of 41); the other scores stay in the dataset.
Sovereign states only: UN member states are ranked; territories and microstates without data are excluded.
No detail within a country: regions and cities can differ widely from the national score.
Relative, not absolute: a score compares countries with each other, it does not certify a destination as risk-free.
Not a travel advisory: always check your government's official advice before travelling.
Data window: latest release of each source at publication, so recent events may not be reflected yet.

New in 2026First Europe edition41 countries, 4 regionsSame scale as the world indexSwitzerland #1

Questions on the method? Contact us →

05 · For journalists

Visuals you can publish

This is exactly what your readers will see: the live block, with its credit link. Free to reproduce; a PNG version is included for CMSs that strip iframes.

HelloSafe Safety Index 2026

The safest countries in Europe90–10080–9070–80under 70Source: HelloSafe, The safest countries in Europe in 2026

Map of Europe · live embed, PNG version includedDownload PNG

“Switzerland is the safest country in Europe with a score of 98.5 out of 100, ahead of Norway (98.1) and Sweden (97.4), according to the HelloSafe Safety Index, which ranks 41 European countries.”

“Seven of the ten safest countries in the world are European, according to the HelloSafe Safety Index: Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Luxembourg.”

“In Europe, political stability separates the safest countries from the rest: 69.0 out of 100 on average, against 97.5 for public safety, in the HelloSafe Safety Index.”

Quotes by Pauline Laurore, travel insurance expert and author of the index · Contact us

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Switzerland tops the Europe ranking of the HelloSafe Safety Index with 98.5 out of 100, ahead of Norway (98.1) and Sweden (97.4). It is 2nd of the 181 countries of the world index, behind Singapore, the safest country in the world. It has the best health security score in Europe (99.7) and scores 99.2 on public safety.

Index updatesThe 2027 ranking is on its way. Be the first to see it.New scores, new countries, the dataset and the press kit, in your inbox on publication day.

Once a year, plus corrections. Privacy policy

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