Ever wondered which of the world's countries are the safest and the most dangerous? The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has released its latest Global Peace Index (GPI) report, ranking 163 independent states and territories around the world in order of peacefulness. This is based on three different factors: societal safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and militarisation. According to the report, peacefulness has declined year-on-year for 12 of the last 16 years – and the gap between the most and least peaceful countries has widened too.
Click through the gallery to see the world's safest and most dangerous nations...
Rising from 19th place in the GPI last year to enter 2024’s top 10, Malaysia picked up a perfect score for its non-existent levels of ongoing domestic and international conflict, as well as further low scores across the board. Beyond its dynamic capital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia often gets overlooked by tourists to Southeast Asia who instead favour neighbouring Thailand. But from tea-rich highlands to paradise islands, the country has so much for visitors to discover.
Take a hike in the Cameron Highlands, where a complex legacy of British colonisation has left behind blankets of tea and strawberry plantations, or give your calf muscles a wake-up call climbing the 272 colourful steps to Batu Caves (pictured). Islands such as Langkawi and Penang offer luxury rainforest stays and delicious local food, while a trip to Sepilok’s Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is bound to pull at the heartstrings.
This small European country, with a population of just 2.1 million, is one of the world’s safest, greenest and cleanest, making it an attractive destination for a long weekend. It's also widely considered one of the most welcoming places for solo female travellers. Visitors are rewarded with jewel-bright lakes, stunning mountains and verdant forests – making Slovenia ideal for all manner of outdoor pursuits.
Among the most popular sights is Lake Bled (pictured), an emerald-green lake with a tiny island topped by a 17th-century church. Ljubljana, the capital, is also a must-visit thanks to its historic architecture and medieval squares, while adventurous types should head to Triglav National Park for scenic trails through virgin forests and alpine peaks.
Last year’s second most peaceful country may have slipped six places in the ranking for 2024, but Denmark continues to score highly in the index – especially for societal safety and security. While Scandi noir crime dramas might try to convince you otherwise, Denmark is one of the world’s least dangerous countries for citizens and visitors. You can generally wander by night and day here without concern.
Hipster Copenhagen welcomes most of the country’s tourists, and travellers here can enjoy picturesque Nyhavn, the city harbour, or navigate the streets by bike. There are lots of top restaurants and brunch spots to sample too. Outside the capital, Aarhus has the fantastic ARoS Art Museum and there’s beautiful countryside to explore.
Retaining its place from 2023, Portugal remains one of the world’s safest countries thanks to low crime rates and political stability. That said, it’s worth keeping your wits about you in the big cities, as pickpocketing and petty theft are not uncommon.
Climbing up from 10th position in 2023, Switzerland is a notoriously safe, clean and efficient country, and that's reflected in the GPI report. It showed that Switzerland had low levels of domestic and international conflict, and scores very highly when it comes to societal safety and security. However, it ranks less well for militarisation.
Visitors flock to this Central European country for its clean-as-a-whistle cities, laced with historic churches, opera houses and themed museums, and its spectacular nature. Pictured is the Gornergrat Bahn, a cog railway in the Zermatt region that offers pinch-yourself views of waterfalls, forested peaks and the iconic Matterhorn mountain.
Food is a major draw for Singapore and the city-state’s cheap and hygienic hawker markets offer a fantastic range of options. After eating, explore the botanical gardens or go shopping at one of the many malls. For something a little different, wander the vibrant Little India district (pictured).
New Zealand topped the Asia-Pacific region again this year, successfully defending its place in the GPI from 2023 with sky-high scores for domestic and international peace. The stunning destination is especially known for the breathtaking scenery that featured in the Lord of the Rings movie franchise.
Most visitors to New Zealand come to explore the country’s stunning natural environment, spanning beaches, glaciers, mountains, forests and lakes. There are lots of opportunities for white-water rafting, hiking and skydiving. The Prime Video series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, also had many filming locations throughout the country, including Fiordland National Park, the beaches at Piha and Coromandel Forest Park.
Rising from fifth place in 2023’s GPI, Austria scores highly across all domains. Its pretty capital Vienna consistently crowns the Economist Intelligence Unit’s list of the globe’s most liveable cities too, thanks to its stability and infrastructure. Residents and tourists alike will be pleased to know the whole country has a very low violent crime rate.
Vienna claims many of the country’s top attractions, including the incredible Schonbrunn Palace (pictured), as well as lots of gorgeous cafes offering mouth-watering Viennese cakes (be sure to try the famous Sachertorte). But it’s not just the capital that’s worth a visit. Mountainous Tyrol has fantastic skiing and the annual summer Salzburg festival welcomes thousands of culture lovers for a showcase of theatre, opera and music.
Back in second place after dropping slightly to third in 2023, Ireland is one of the world's two most peaceful countries. The Emerald Isle has low levels of terrorism and little domestic or international conflict.
A visit to Ireland wouldn't be complete without sampling a pint of Guinness, and the Guinness Storehouse is high on many tourists' lists when they touch down in Dublin. After hitting the city landmarks, head to Temple Bar to finish the night listening to a live Irish band or two. But don’t just stay in Dublin; the country’s mostly untouched Atlantic coastline is beautiful and there are plenty of quiet spots to admire it without crowds.
Holding the top spot since 2008, Iceland has a long history of being the safest country in the world. It topped the Global Peace Index for domestic and international peace levels and doesn’t spend much on its military, though it did lose a meagre 1.55% of its overall score over the past year, due to a small increase in violent demonstrations. Despite this, it remains the most peaceful country in the world by far.
The 'Land of Fire and Ice’ is on a lot of people’s wish lists thanks to its incredible geothermal springs, dazzling waterfalls and good chances of seeing the Northern Lights. Tourists can also explore the country’s glaciers, while thrill-seekers can go diving at the Silfra fissure, the gap between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. Beyond the heavily visited Golden Circle sights, there's tranquil Akureyri, Iceland's second city or the whale-watching hotspot Husavik in the north.
Now for the most dangerous countries. Ranked the 10th least peaceful country in the world in this year’s GPI, Mali has been politically insecure for a number of years, mainly due to the presence of jihadist insurgents in the region. A spate of violent attacks and sieges throughout the latter half of 2023 and into 2024 have made the country increasingly volatile. The British Foreign Office (FCDO) advises against all travel to the significant majority of Mali, while the US State Department has its highest 'Do Not Travel' advisory in place for the entire landlocked country. Pictured here is an internally displaced persons’ camp in Bamako.
As a result of this unrest, three of Mali’s four UNESCO World Heritage Sites have been inscribed to the List of World Heritage in Danger for most of the past decade, including the desert city of Timbuktu and the Old Town of Djenne (pictured). Inhabited since 250 BC, nearly 2,000 of Djenne’s original mud-walled buildings have survived into modernity.
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The conflict between Israel and Palestine is one of the longest-running in the world, and their recent clashes have sparked devastating ripples across the entire Middle East. Things escalated in October 2023, when Israel declared war on Gaza after the armed Palestinian group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault. The Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to parts of Israel, while the US State Department warns citizens to reconsider travel to the country.
The 2024 Global Peace Index documents Israel as the world’s most militarised country and the nation with the largest deterioration in peacefulness, falling 11 places from the previous year’s report. Formerly popular destinations such as Tel Aviv, with its Bauhaus architecture and urban beaches, have become no-go zones for tourists.
Syria has been repeatedly judged the world's least safe country in recent years but moved back to eighth place in 2024 from last year’s third. The nation's civil war has made headlines around the world, becoming a brutal proxy battle for regional powers that is strangling the country’s economy. Despite a dire place in the table and its involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Syria's overall safety score has improved.
Before the civil war began in 2011, capital city Damascus and second city Aleppo (pictured here in pre-war times) were frequented by tour groups roaming the bustling marketplaces, day-tripping to Roman ruins and exploring the culture of the country's ancient civilisations. The brutal conflict is estimated to have claimed more than 600,000 lives.
It should come as no surprise that Russia remains one of the least peaceful nations in 2024’s report, given its continued full-scale invasion of Ukraine which began in February 2022. Both the FCDO and US State Department urge citizens not to travel to Russia under any circumstances, as far-reaching instability continues throughout the country and surrounding region.
According to the 2024 Global Peace Index report, Russia ranks third in terms of military capabilities next to the United States and China. The country’s war on Ukraine has resulted in more than 2,000 deaths almost every month since February 2022. Russia ranks as one of the world’s most militarised countries, second only to Israel.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), especially eastern parts of the country, has been enmeshed in civil strife and violence for decades, increasing significantly from 2017 onwards. Recent events across multiple conflict zones have caused a humanitarian crisis, displacing at least 5.6 million people. The GPI reports that, as of May 2024, the M23 rebel group in control of North Kivu was expanding its territory. Meanwhile, after 14 years of attempts to alleviate tensions in the country, the work of MONUSCO (the world's largest peacekeeping mission) was terminated by the DRC government.
DRC is one of only three countries in the world where mountain gorillas can be found in the wild. But in 2018, the Virunga National Park made the decision to close its doors to tourists after several of its rangers were brutally murdered by militiamen and poachers. Despite the ongoing threat of violence, many rangers continue to risk their lives to protect the gorillas. Although Virunga has since reopened, current US State Department advice is to reconsider travel to the DRC.
Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine has devastated the country. Two years on from when it started, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine confirmed 10,582 civilian fatalities had befallen the nation. This was before an attack on Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital in July 2024 killed dozens more. According to the GPI report, the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine were the main drivers in the world’s general deterioration in peacefulness this year.
Before the war, Ukraine's popularity as a tourist destination in Eastern Europe was burgeoning. Most visitors would make for the country's historic capital Kyiv, with its grand plazas, domed cathedrals and monasteries. Pictured is Sofia Square, with the gold-topped Saint Sophia Cathedral and an equestrian monument to Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, which has now been covered in protective scaffolding to safeguard it from bombings.
After eight consecutive years listed as the most dangerous country in the world, Afghanistan has dropped a few spots this year. Though it remains the least peaceful country in the South Asia region, there were two notable improvements to its record in 2024 – it is no longer the nation with the greatest terrorism impact, while its fatality rate from domestic conflict fell from over 17,000 in 2017 to less than 350 across 2023. In summer 2021, Afghanistan was recaptured by the Taliban, which brought an official end to war but did little for overall national stability.
Afghanistan has had a troubled recent past, enduring a Soviet occupation in the 1980s and a half-century of near-continuous Islamist terrorism and internal conflict. There have been attempts to revive tourism, but the US Department of State and the FCDO advise not visiting for any reason. The country is home to the magnificent Friday Mosque in Herat (pictured), as well as stunning natural scenery.
The world’s newest country, South Sudan is sadly also one of the most dangerous. The nation declared independence from Sudan in 2011, but a civil war broke out just two years later. While a peace deal was signed in 2018, armed conflict and human rights abuses continue unabated. Falling from fourth to third place in the GPI’s least-peaceful ranking, South Sudan remains 2024's least peaceful country in the Institute for Economics and Peace's designation of sub-Saharan Africa.
A 2022 UN report into the conflict cited a host of human rights violations and recorded that 44,000 civilians were forcibly displaced and 173 killed between 11 February and 31 May 2022. South Sudan boasts a wealth of natural resources, and its capital city Juba (pictured) sits on the banks of the White Nile. Sadly, corruption has ensured that the civilian population sees little of the benefit.
The vastly deteriorating situation in Sudan has seen the country fall from ninth least peaceful in 2023 to second least peaceful in 2024. The US Department of State and FCDO currently advise against all travel due to ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the latter of which reportedly massacred 15,000 in West Darfur last year. The biggest risks to civilians include terrorism, street crime, kidnapping and unrest, with half of Sudan’s population – more than 24.8 million people – in crisis, according to UNICEF.
The country has a host of historical and natural marvels that are unfortunately off limits to visitors. One of them is Meroe (pictured), a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the banks of the Nile home to ancient pyramids dated between 300 BC and AD 300. The surrounding Nubian Desert is home to mile upon mile of sandy wilderness, wandered by lonely ibex and Barbary sheep.
The Arab nation of Yemen has been in a state of civil war for many years, but 2024 marks its first appearance as the GPI’s overall least peaceful country in the world. In total, Yemen has dropped 24 places in the safety rankings since their inception, and now finds itself embroiled in the Israel-Palestine conflict too. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, involving Houthi minority rebels battling the government regime, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, for power. The most recent UN estimates suggested 377,000 people had been killed in the war, as of the start of 2022.
While a permanent ceasefire is being sought, the civil war has devastated the country’s resources, depleted its political stability and international relations, and seen the humanitarian situation further decline over the past year. Due to Houthi involvement in the Israel-Hamas war, both the UK and US have increased military involvement in Yemen, advising their citizens against all travel to the country. Yemen is home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Old City of Sana’a (pictured), which we may never get to see. For the full 2024 Global Peace Index, click here.