What is the safest Caribbean island?

Barbados is the safest country of the Caribbean with 77.6 out of 100, ahead of Cuba (69.6), Grenada (68.5), the Dominican Republic (55.0) and the Bahamas (52.7). Barbados scores 84.2 on public safety and 82.7 on political stability. Territories such as Aruba or Puerto Rico are not ranked.

Is Costa Rica safe to visit?

Costa Rica is the safest country in Central America, with 68.8 out of 100, and 7th of the 31 countries of the Americas. It leads its region on health security and political stability (75.6 each), but scores 61.7 on public safety, so petty theft is the main risk to plan for. Check your government's travel advice for your itinerary.

Is Mexico safe to visit?

Mexico scores 49.1 out of 100 and ranks 22nd of the 31 countries of the Americas. It does well on cybersecurity (84.4) but scores 46.2 on public safety and 25.6 on political stability. The score is national: conditions vary widely between states and cities, so check your government's travel advice for the places you plan to visit.

How do the Americas compare with other continents?

On the same world scale, the 31 countries of the Americas average 56.1 out of 100, against 85.5 for Europe, 70.3 for Oceania, 68.2 for Asia and 48.3 for Africa. The Americas have the lowest public safety average of any continent (60.4).

HelloSafe Safety Index2026 edition · 31 countries of the Americas · 5 pillars

The safest countries in the Americas in 2026: South America, Central America and the Caribbean

Chile, Barbados, Costa Rica: the 31 countries of the Americas scored out of 100 on the world Safety Index, by region: South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Global top 3 · 2026score /100

70–10060–7050–60under 50

A. Fruchard
Co-Founder & Travel Insurance Expert

Last updated: October 14, 2026100 % public, traceable data

Key facts to remember

The index in 30 seconds

31countries of the Americas ranked, on the world index scale

56.1the Americas' average score /100

78.5Chile, the safest country in Latin America

17countries published, up to 5 per region

Key takeaways · 20-second read

Canada (93.3) and the United States (82.3) top the Americas; Chile (78.5), Barbados (77.6) and Uruguay (76.0) are the safest countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Safest by region: Chile in South America, Costa Rica (68.8) in Central America, Barbados in the Caribbean.
Public safety is the region's weak point: 60.4/100 on average, the lowest of any continent, against 97.5 in Europe.
The widest gaps in the world index: Canada is 16th of 181 countries, Haiti 181st.
Same scores as the world ranking: Chile is 44th of the 181 countries of the world index.

How is the index built? See the methodology ↓

01 · Americas ranking

2026 Americas ranking

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

Search a country…

#1 in the Americas · #1 in North America · #16 worldwide

Canada

93.3/10070–100

Canada scores 93.3/100, #1 in the Americas, #1 in North America and #16 worldwide. Its strongest pillar is Environmental risk (98.8), its weakest Political stability (87.0). Before you go, look for cover for trip cancellation and early return.

Pillar breakdown

Public safety & crime 35 %96.2

Health security 25 %91.1

Political stability 20 %87.0

Environmental risk 15 %98.8

Cybersecurity 5 %92.5

Pillar scores on 100, weighted into the overall 93.3.

Insurance for Canada →

02 · Where the safe countries are

The geography of safety in the Americas

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

Showing 22 of 22 published countries · click a country for its info

Why are some countries grey? All 31 countries of the Americas are scored, but this page shows the 5 safest of each region (North America has two), 17 in all. The 14 others stay in the dataset and are not mapped. What this study does not show ↓

03 · Regional rankings

Safest countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean

The four regions of the Americas, as defined by the UN, each ranked on its own: every country with its rank in its region, in the Americas and worldwide. North America leads on average (87.8), ahead of South America (57.8), Central America (51.7) and the Caribbean (50.6).

South America · average 57.8 · 12 countries scored, 5 published

Safest countries in South America

1Chile78.5#3
2Uruguay76.0#5
3Argentina68.5#9
4Peru64.5#10
5Suriname63.3#12

Reader service: in much of Latin America, theft is the most common problem for travellers, and private hospitals expect payment up front. Check the cover for belongings and the medical limit before you leave, with our travel insurance comparison.

Reading the results

What separates the safest countries of the Americas

Public safety is the lowest pillar in the Americas: 60.4 out of 100 on average. Canada (96.2), Bolivia (90.8), Cuba and Argentina (90.7 each) score highest; Trinidad and Tobago (12.1) and Haiti (10.6) are among the lowest in the world index.

Uruguay, Canada and two island states lead on political stability: Uruguay (87.7), Canada (87.0), Barbados (82.7) and the Bahamas (76.1) have the highest scores, against an average of 48.5. The Bahamas pair this with a public safety score of 30.2.

Costa Rica leads Central America on balance: 75.6 on both health security and political stability, the best in the region, although Nicaragua (75.7) and El Salvador (83.2) score higher on public safety.

Mexico ranks 22nd of the 31 countries with 49.1: 84.4 on cybersecurity, but 46.2 on public safety and 25.6 on political stability.

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 Mexico in Central America.

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

RobustnessRank correlation of 0.94 with equal weights across the 31 countries of the Americas; 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 (17 of 31); the other scores stay in the dataset.
Sovereign states only: UN member states are ranked; territories such as Puerto Rico or Aruba 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 2026

First Americas edition
31 countries, 4 regions
Same scale as the world index
Canada #1, Chile #1 in Latin America

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 the Americas70–10060–7050–60under 50Source: HelloSafe, The safest countries in the Americas in 2026: South America, Central America and the Caribbean

Map of the Americas · live embed, PNG version includedDownload PNG

“Chile is the safest country in Latin America with a score of 78.5 out of 100, ahead of Barbados (77.6) and Uruguay (76.0), according to the HelloSafe Safety Index, which ranks 31 countries of the Americas.”

“Barbados is the safest country in the Caribbean and Costa Rica the safest in Central America, according to the HelloSafe Safety Index.”

“Public safety is the weakest pillar in the Americas, at 60.4 out of 100 on average, the lowest of any continent 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

Chile tops South America in the HelloSafe Safety Index with 78.5 out of 100, ahead of Uruguay (76.0), Argentina (68.5), Peru (64.5) and Suriname (63.3). Chile is 44th of the 181 countries of the world index.

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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