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Every year, the Institute of Economics and Peace releases a Global Peace Index (GPI) – which can come in handy for people planning overseas travel. The GPI ranks countries on factors ranging from rates of violence and crime to corruption, terrorism and international conflicts.
So, where do you reckon Australia would land? A bit lower than we'd predict, down in 22nd spot – but hey, we well and truly beat some of our western, English-speaking counterparts, such as the UK (who came in spot number 37) and the US (who ended a fair way down in spot number 131).
Which country is regarded the safest? Iceland came out on top – as they have every year since all the way back in 2008 – thanks to its low crime rates, low military spending and low rates of international conflict.
Denmark landed in 2nd place, in part due to its low levels of corruption. And Ireland jumped five places up since last year's results.
The ten safest countries in the world in 2023:
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- Austria
- Singapore
- Portugal
- Slovenia
- Japan
- Switzerland
What about the most dangerous countries?
At the other end of the spectrum, there are countries that are suffering through war, extensive violence and political instability. According to the Global Peace Index, these are the ten countries that finished in the bottom ten, ranking as the most dangerous in the world for 2023.
- Afghanistan
- Yemen
- Syria
- South Sudan
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Iraq
You can check out the rankings and GPI’s interactive map here.