When visiting a different country, it is good to know where is safe and where could be potentially dangerous for tourists. Merchant Machine has analysed all the OECD countries and ranked them across a number of categories, including theft rates, homicide rates and how peaceful they are, according to the Global Peace Index.
Turkey is ranked the most dangerous country
Merchant Machine’s research found that Turkey is the most dangerous country amongst the OCED countries.
The research found that Turkey has the highest rate for imprisonment which is at 322 per 100,000 people. Additionally, it has the worst rating for the Global Peace Index at 2.84, resulting in it being the least peaceful country.
Following Turkey, as the second most dangerous country, is Costa Rica. Amongst all the countries analysed, Costa Rica has the highest rate of registered robberies at 1,587 per 100,000 people and one of the highest rates of imprisonment at 290 per 100,000 people.
Other dangerous countries include Mexico, the United States and Colombia. These three countries had a bad score on the Global Peace Index, compared to other countries.
Overall, the United Kingdom has ranked 7th among the most dangerous countries, with not-so-high minor crime rates, like theft and robbery. However, the UK’s rate for kidnapping is within the top 5, with research finding it at 7 per 100,000 people. The 4 countries above the UK in this category are Canada, Belgium, New Zealand and Luxembourg.
Top 10 most dangerous countries:
| Country | Global Peace Score | Average monthly searches for keywords related to cybercrime for last 12 months | Average Theft Rate | Robbery (per 100,000 people - 2017) | Homicide (per 100,000 people. 2017/18) | Kidnapping (per 100,000 people, 2017) | Imprisonment (per 100,000 people. 2017) | Final index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | 2.84 | 17,710 | N/A | - | 2.6 | - | 322 | 5.87 |
| Costa Rica | 1.74 | 1,640 | - | 1,587 | 11.3 | 0.2 | 290 | 4.88 |
| Mexico | 2.62 | 40,310 | 298 | 179 | 29.1 | - | 141 | 4.61 |
| United States | 2.34 | 177,600 | 1,645 | 98 | 5.3 | - | 4.32 | |
| Colombia | 2.69 | 9,600 | 180 | 244 | 25.3 | 0.4 | 244 | 4.31 |
| Israel | 2.67 | 400 | N/A | - | 1.5 | 1.6 | 232 | 4.19 |
| United Kingdom | 1.66 | 27,180 | 2,686 | 120 | 1.2 | 7.3 | 143 | 4.09 |
| New Zealand | 1.25 | 1,670 | 2,876 | 78 | 0.7 | 7.9 | 222 | 4.06 |
| Belgium | 1.5 | 1,140 | 1,927 | 167 | 1.7 | 10.3 | 88 | 3.67 |
| Chile | 1.83 | 4,100 | 923 | 633 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 231 | 3.59 |
The United Kingdom ranks 5th for minor crimes
With the average rate of robberies at 120 people per 100,000 and 2,686 for theft, the UK scored an overall score of 4.74, putting it in 5th place in the ranking for minor crimes that include theft and robbery. For clarity, robbery is when someone steals from a person, using force, while theft is stealing but does not involve the use of force.
Costa Rica came out on top for minor crimes and was found to be the country with the highest rates of robbery at 1,587 people per 100,000. However, when it comes to theft, Sweden and Denmark take the top two spots. Sweden, which has ranked second for minor crimes, had a theft rate of 3,494 per 100,000 people and Denmark, which ranked third, had a rate of 3,455.
The safest countries when it comes to theft and robbery include South Korea, Poland and Slovakia.
The most dangerous countries for minor crimes:
| Country | Average Theft Rate | Robbery (per 100,000 people - 2017) | Final Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica | - | 1,587 | 10 |
| Sweden | 3,494 | 86 | 5.74 |
| Denmark | 3,455 | 35 | 5.54 |
| New Zealand | 2,876 | 78 | 5 |
| United Kingdom | 2,686 | 120 | 4.74 |
| Austria | 1,344 | - | 4.16 |
| Australia | 2,311 | 39 | 4 |
| Belgium | 1,927 | 167 | 4 |
| Chile | 923 | 633 | 4 |
| Finland | 2,000 | 30 | 3.55 |
Mexico named the most dangerous country for major crimes
For major crimes, including homicide and kidnapping, Mexico has been labelled the most dangerous. Although not the highest, the homicide rate in Mexico is amongst the highest, with a rate of 29 per 100,000 people.
Other countries that ranked high in major crimes include South Korea and Canada. South Korea was found to have the highest homicide rate amongst the countries that were analysed at 36 per 100,000 and Canada was found to have the highest rate for kidnapping which is at 10 per 100,000. These findings resulted in both countries being within the top 5.
Japan, Slovenia and Switzerland are the safest countries for major crimes.
The most dangerous countries for major crimes:
| Country | Homicide (per 100,000 people. 2017/18) | Kidnapping (per 100,000 people, 2017) | Final Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 29.1 | - | 8.18 |
| Canada | 2 | 10 | 5.69 |
| Belgium | 2 | 10 | 5.67 |
| South Korea | 36 | 0 | 6 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 8 | 4.5 |
| Luxembourg | 0 | 7.7 | 4.36 |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| Colombia | 25 | 0 | 4 |
| Germany | 0.9 | 6 | 4 |
| Costa Rica | 11 | 0 | 2.46 |
Turkey, the UK and Belgium are named the least safe countries in Europe
Looking at Europe, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Belgium make the top three least safe countries.
The United Kingdom had a good score on the Global Peace Index, indicating that it is one of the more peaceful countries; however, compared to European countries such as Latvia and Lithuania, the UK is high for theft.
Another factor that has resulted in the UK being in the top 3, is its kidnapping rates. According to the research, 7.3 per 100,000 people are kidnapped in the UK. In Italy, this rate is only 0.3 per 100,000 people.
Out of all European countries, France and the UK ranked highest for monthly searches related to cybercrime. The research found that in France, 79,820 searches were conducted over the past 12 months and for the UK, 27,180.
Top 10 most dangerous European countries:
| Country | Global Peace Score | Average monthly searches for keywords related to cybercrime for last 12 months | Average Theft Rate | Robbery (per 100,000 people - 2017) | Homicide (per 100,000 people. 2017/18) | Kidnapping (per 100,000 people, 2017) | Imprisonment (per 100,000 people. 2017) | Final index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | 2.84 | 17,710 | N/A | - | 2.6 | - | 322 | 5.12 |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 27,180 | 2,686 | 120 | 1.2 | 7.3 | 143 | 3.94 |
| Belgium | 2 | 1,140 | 1,927 | 167 | 1.7 | 10.3 | 88 | 3.59 |
| Luxembourg | - | 60 | 1,706 | 76 | 0.3 | 7.7 | 111 | 3.17 |
| France | 2 | 79,820 | N/A | 150 | 1.2 | - | 106 | 3.07 |
| Lithuania | 2 | 580 | 528 | 38 | 4.5 | 0 | 228 | 2.65 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1,610 | 3,494 | 86 | 1.1 | - | 58 | 2.99 |
| Denmark | 1 | 2,370 | 3,455 | 35 | 1 | - | 63 | 2.78 |
| Germany | 1.48 | 12,370 | 1,351 | 47 | 0.9 | 5.6 | 77 | 2.75 |
| Latvia | 2 | 230 | 737 | 31 | 4.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 2.54 |
Iceland crowned the safest country
With low rates across all the different crimes and scoring the best in the peace index, it’s no surprise that Iceland has been named the safest country.
On the Global Peace Index, Iceland scored 1.1, making it the most peaceful country. It only had 50 searches for keywords related to cybercrime in the past year and its homicide rates were also below 1 per 100,000 people.
Other countries that were also deemed safer were Slovenia, Japan, Switzerland and Spain. In fact, Spain is one of the countries with the lowest rates of theft at 354 per 100,000; the only European country with a lower rate is Poland at 271.
Top 10 safest countries:
| Country | Global Peace Score | Average monthly searches for keywords related to cybercrime for last 12 months | Average Theft Rate | Robbery (per 100,000 people - 2017) | Homicide (per 100,000 people. 2017/18) | Kidnapping (per 100,000 people, 2017) | Imprisonment (per 100,000 people. 2017) | Final index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iceland | 1.1 | 50 | 1,059 | 14 | 0.9 | - | 39 | 1.43 |
| Slovenia | 1 | 410 | 967 | 11 | 0.5 | 0 | 63 | 1.59 |
| Japan | 1 | 21,980 | N/A | - | 0.3 | - | 41 | 1.65 |
| Switzerland | 1 | 930 | 1,634 | 21 | 0.6 | 0 | 77 | 1.93 |
| Spain | 2 | 11,090 | 354 | 143 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 127 | 2.07 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1,610 | 1,374 | 45 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 79 | 2.08 |
| Norway | 1 | 40 | 1,754 | 15 | 0.5 | - | 64 | 2.16 |
| Greece | 2 | 2,900 | 598 | 40 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 90 | 2.17 |
| Hungary | 1.49 | 1,140 | 589 | 9 | 2.5 | 0 | 178 | 2.17 |
| Finland | 1 | 15,890 | 2,000 | 30 | 1.6 | 0 | 56 | 2.19 |
Methodology
Based on the 38 OECD countries, we ranked each country across seven categories: peace, cybercrime-related searches, theft, robbery, homicide, kidnapping and imprisonment. An average overall score was then calculated from the seven categories.
Sources:
https://dataunodc.un.org/data/crime/theft
https://dataunodc.un.org/content/data/homicide/homicide-rate
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/robery/
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/kidnapping/
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/prisoners/
https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GPI-2021-web-1.pdf
Our Most Popular Guides
- UK Merchant Account & Credit Card Processing Fee Comparison
- How to Accept Card Payments Online, In-Store, & By Phone
- Payment Gateways In The UK: What You Need To Know
- Square Card Reader Reviews: UK Payment Fees & Pricing Compared
- SumUp Card Reader Reviews: UK Fees & Pricing
- Dojo Go Card Machine Reviews, Pricing & Fees
- Worldpay Reviews: UK Fees & Pricing
- Top 10 UK Direct Debit Bureau & Recurring Payments Companies
- Contactless Mobile Card Payment Readers: Which Is Cheapest?
- PDQ Machines: Cheap Chip & Pin Card Payment Terminals From £19
- 7 Best Mobile Card Readers With Built-In Receipt Printers
- Credit Card & PDQ Machine Rental Cost: Hire From Just £19
- Square vs Zettle Vs Worldpay & Sumup: Card Reader Comparison
Stephen Dalton says
Dear editor:
Where did you get your homicide rate for South Korea? It strains credibility that it would be higher than Mexico’s. When I checked your source (https://dataunodc.un.org/content/data/homicide/homicide-rate), I initially found no entry for either South or North Korea, for that matter.
After doing a bit more digging at the UN site, I discovered a homicide rate of 0.6/100,000 in 2017, not 36/100,000.
See https://dataunodc.un.org/content/homicide-rate-option-2. Was this error due to faulty data scraping?
Please let me know if you intend to correct the apparent error.
QUEPASA says
AND WHERE IS POLAND ? WTH ??!!!
Feadle says
So far this is wrong I have visit belgium and its safe.All European countries are safe.And Afghanistan is the most dangerous not the European countries.My Brother has visit Turkey.This is a lie Okay make it different because everybody wont believe this