World ranking: the 50 safest countries to travel to in 2025

In a world of growing political, health, digital, and environmental uncertainty, “safety” is no longer just about crime or stability—it also includes healthcare readiness, cybersecurity, and climate resilience.

The HelloSafe Safety Index provides a multidimensional framework to measure a country’s overall safety (0–100), based on five pillars: public safety & crime, political & social stability, health security, cybersecurity, and environmental risk.

Built from international data sources (UN, World Bank, WHO, ITU, Transparency International, ND-GAIN…) and perception indicators (Numbeo, WJP, OECD), it helps compare countries over time and identify strengths and vulnerabilities for tourism, policy, investment, and resilience planning.

🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇨🇭 Switzerland and 🇳🇴 Norway: the 3 safest countries to travel to in 2025

The global ranking of the 50 safest countries to travel to highlights the dominance of Nordic nations (Iceland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland), which stand as true models of global safety. Their excellence results from an exceptional combination of almost non-existent crime, long-lasting political stability, transparent institutions, and exemplary healthcare systems. These countries embody a balance between public safety, social trust, and environmental resilience, placing quality of life and risk prevention at the core of their national model.

Behind them, Asia-Pacific countries such as Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia distinguish themselves through excellence in cybersecurity, social discipline, and advanced urban management. In Europe, Western and Northern countries remain strong performers, while Central Europe (Estonia, Slovenia, Czech Republic) is progressing quickly thanks to effective digital and institutional policies. Portugal, Spain, and Italy also offer high safety levels for travelers, despite certain challenges related to corruption or pollution.

Finally, several emerging countries such as Costa Rica, Chile, and Morocco appear in the top 50, showing that stable political conditions and peaceful societies can compensate for economic limitations. This ranking illustrates a major global shift: safety no longer depends only on maintaining order, but on a holistic approach including health, the environment, and digital security.

The Safety Index therefore introduces a new paradigm: safety as a reflection of a country's institutional quality and overall resilience.

Safest countries in Europe: Top 10 destinations

Europe remains the safest region in the world for travelers, dominated by Nordic and Alpine countries. 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇨🇭 Switzerland, 🇳🇴 Norway, and 🇫🇮 Finland form a core of exceptional stability, where crime is nearly non-existent and institutional trust is extremely high. Their societies are built on transparent governance, cohesive social fabric, and high levels of equality — factors that mechanically reduce internal tensions.

These countries also excel in environmental resilience and health preparedness. Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria combine strong urban safety, advanced cybersecurity, and robust infrastructure. Even Sweden, despite occasional increases in crime, remains one of the safest countries in Europe. Overall, the continent illustrates the maturity of an integrated security model based on prevention, trust, and collective well-being.

Safest countries in Asia: Top 10 destinations

The Asian ranking reflects the power of long-term planning and strong institutional control. At the top, Singapore and Japan embody excellence in public safety, civic discipline, and cybersecurity. South Korea and Taiwan benefit from highly advanced digital governance and socially disciplined populations. In the Gulf region, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain maintain remarkable stability through massive investments in surveillance systems, modern infrastructure, and healthcare capacity.

However, regional geopolitical tensions and energy dependency remain areas requiring close monitoring. Malaysia and Brunei stand out for their high urban safety levels and relatively low corruption. Asia as a whole illustrates a security model based on technology, prevention, and strong state effectiveness — a model where political stability consistently outweighs individual freedom.

Safest countries in Africa: Top 10 destinations

Africa presents a contrasting landscape: regions of significant instability coexist with strongholds of enduring safety. At the top of the ranking, Mauritius, Botswana, and Namibia demonstrate that stable democratic systems and prudent governance can offer a secure and attractive environment for travelers. Rwanda — often cited for its public order and administrative efficiency — stands out with strong urban safety despite its recent history.

Morocco and Tunisia also score well thanks to solid political stability and increased security measures in tourist areas. Countries such as Ghana and Senegal represent an Africa of moderation, where major risks remain relatively limited. Overall, African safety is improving due to better institutions, the rise of sustainable tourism, and growing attention to emerging cybersecurity challenges.

Safest countries in Latin America: Top 10 destinations

In Latin America, safety remains highly uneven, but several countries clearly stand out due to coherent public policies and long-term governance. Costa Rica 🇨🇷 — without an army and centered on civil peace — remains the safest country in the region, symbolizing unique democratic stability. Chile 🇨🇱 and Uruguay 🇺🇾 follow closely, supported by strong institutions, low corruption, and effective public health systems.

Panama 🇵🇦 benefits from its strategic location and economic dynamism to maintain high levels of urban safety. Argentina 🇦🇷 and Paraguay 🇵🇾 fluctuate between stability and moderate social tensions. Peru 🇵🇪 and Bolivia 🇧🇴 are progressing slowly, while Colombia 🇨🇴 and Ecuador 🇪🇨 continue to face security challenges linked to drug trafficking and organized crime. Overall, the region shows that stable governance, social reforms, and a shift toward sustainable tourism can mitigate long-standing structural fragilities.

Methodology: sources, weighting, and calculation

1. Methodological Objective

The goal is to produce a composite score (0–100) measuring a country’s safety for residents and travelers across five dimensions:

• Public safety and crime (35%)
• Political and social stability (25%)
• Health and sanitary security (15%)
• Cybersecurity and digital safety (15%)
• Environmental security and natural risks (10%)

Each dimension is composed of sub-indicators as defined in the initial analytical framework. The objective is to build a transparent, reproducible, traceable, and updatable index.

2. Data Sources (principles and recommended list)

• Objective criteria: UNODC / Our World in Data (homicides), WHO (road deaths, health), World Bank (WGI), ND-GAIN, ITU GCI, Transparency International (CPI).
• Perception & urban safety: Numbeo (Crime Index, City Safety Index), noting associated biases.
• Cybercrime prevalence: Comparitech / Surfshark / Europol reports; otherwise proxy via complaints per 100k or incident reports.
• Social tension: ACLED (violent events), Economist Intelligence Unit risk indices.

Preferred formats: CSV, JSON or API access. Each dataset must include at minimum: country (ISO3), year, indicator, unit, source, URL, retrieval date.

3. Normalization and Processing

Each indicator is transformed into a 0–100 scale using min–max normalization. Negative indicators (e.g., homicide rate, pollution, perceived crime) are reversed so that high scores always reflect greater safety. Extreme values are adjusted using winsorization to reduce the impact of outliers. Missing data is imputed using the regional median when necessary.

4. Weighting and Aggregation

Sub-indicators are aggregated within each pillar using their respective weights, then combined to produce a final score:

Safety Index = Σ (Wk × Dk) for k = 1 to 5

Where Wk represents the weight of the pillar and Dk its normalized score.

This calculation results in a global score out of 100, allowing comparability between countries. Note that weighting applies at the global and regional levels, meaning a country may appear in the global Top 50 yet have a slightly different score within its regional ranking.

5. Robustness and Verification

Sensitivity tests were conducted to measure the impact of alternative weightings and normalization methods. Correlations with major international indices (GPI, HDI) confirm the coherence and robustness of the model.

6. Limits of the ranking: what the index does (and doesn’t) measure

This ranking combines objective data and perception-based indicators; therefore, it reflects relative global safety rather than absolute conditions. Internal disparities (regions, major cities) are not always captured. However, the Safety Index provides a strong and consistent basis for comparing the stability and perceived safety of countries worldwide.