Discover the Safest Countries to Live In
What are the safest countries to live in? The world, unfortunately, is still very violent, more violent than it was at the beginning of the century. Despite this, the situation has improved somewhat since 2014, with significant advances in some countries.
In today’s post, we will tell you about the safest countries to live in based on the standard of living, crime rate, population, and the kind of people you find in them.
Do you know about the Global Peace Index (GPI)? a report produced annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an international non-profit research organization based in Australia.
This index reveals the results of the main study on levels of peace worldwide, covering about 99.7% of the world population.
The 20 safest countries in the world
Of the 163 countries studied, the safest country to live in is Iceland, an island country located in the northern Atlantic Ocean. With its little more than 350 thousand inhabitants, Iceland has a very high HDI (Human Development Index), a sign that it stands out not only positively in security, but also in education, health, and standard of living. In fact, since 2008, Iceland has been ranked as the most peaceful country in the world.
Half of the European countries have worsened in terms of security. This is not the case for Iceland, the only Nordic country that in the last decade has become even more peaceful.
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Top 20 Safest Countries to Live In 2022
Let’s see which are the 20 safest countries in the world:
- Iceland 1,072
- New Zealand 1,221
- Portugal 1,274
- Austria 1,291
- Denmark 1,316
- Canada 1,327
- Singapore 1,347
- Slovenia 1,355
- Japan 1,369
- Czech Republic 1,375
- Switzerland 1,383
- Ireland 1,390
- Australia 1,419
- Finland 1,488
- Bhutan 1,506
- Malaysia 1,529
- Netherlands 1,530
- Belgium 1,533
- Sweden 1,533
- Norway 1,536
To measure the level of tranquility, researchers from the Institute for Economics and Peace use 23 indicators, gathered in 3 fundamental criteria:
- Ongoing internal or external conflicts;
- Levels of security and protection of people;
- Militarization of the country.
Thus, the higher the numbers in each of the indicators, the lower the country’s security level. For example, a country involved in external conflicts, with high crime rates and high militarization will inevitably have a low level of tranquility. And the opposite is also true: the lower the levels in each of the domains, the more peaceful the country will be.
New Zealand
New Zealand, a second country more peaceful world, could have an even better score if not for the terrorist attack of March 15, 2019, which resulted in the death of 51 people who were praying in two mosques of the city Christchurch.
What held New Zealand in second place was the maintenance or improvement in almost all indicators in the three domains analyzed.
The score that appears next to the name of each country reflects this data: the lower the score, the more peaceful the country is. The higher the score, the more violent.
Of all these criteria, the only one that decreased between 2008 and 2019 was the degree of militarization. It fell, on average, 2.6% in the countries analyzed. In 117 countries, the number of members of the armed forces per 100 thousand inhabitants decreased, and in 98 countries military expenditure fell in relation to GDP.
Portugal
Portugal is a country whose crime rates, in addition to being very low, have been falling even more in the last decade. From 2008 to 2018, there was a 37% drop in the number of cases of violent crimes committed in the country. This contributes to the non-participation in armed conflicts and low militarization. Result: Portugal appears 3rd in the list of the safest countries to live in.
Let’s see the complete list of safe South American countries:
- Chile (27th) 1,634
- Uruguay (34th) 1,711
- Ecuador (71st) 1,980
- Argentina (75th) 1,989
- Peru (80º) 2,016
- Bolivia (85º) 2,044
- Paraguay (88th) 2,055
- Guyana (92nd) 2,075
- Brazil (116th) 2,271
- Colombia (143rd) 2,661
- Venezuela (144º) 2,671
The two worst places – Colombia and Venezuela – are among the 10 countries in the world with the worst index of “levels of security and protection”.
This helps to explain the bad position in the ranking. In the case of Venezuela, the serious political crisis and the economic collapse, which motivated mass emigration, are among the determinants of the low level of peace in that country.
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