The world’s safest and most dangerous places to visit in 2026

The major report found that peace has deteriorated every year since 2014

Dec 17, 2025 - 19:40

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The world’s safest and most dangerous places to visit in 2026

The world’s safest and most dangerous countries have been revealed in an annual assessment of crime rates, terrorist activity and conflict.

The 19th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI) ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness, covering 99.7 per cent of the world’s population.

Iceland, Ireland and New Zealand have been named the top three countries with a high level of peace and safety.

These are followed by Austria and Switzerland.

The UK is ranked number 30, behind Germany at number 20 and Spain at number 25.

At the other end of the spectrum, Russia, Ukraine and Sudan were ranked as the top three most dangerous countries.

These are closely followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Yemen.

The study found that global stability has deteriorated over the past 17 years, marked by substantial increases in political instability, the number and intensity of conflicts, deaths from conflict and increasing geopolitical fragmentation.

The report, which is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), also found that peace has deteriorated every year since 2014.

On a regional scale, the Middle East and North Africa were found to be the least peaceful places on earth, followed by South Asia.

Western and Central Europe was found to be the most peaceful region globally.

Despite this, it noted that “Europe is undergoing rising social tensions and rising distrust in its institutions.

“As more public funds are diverted from employment, healthcare and education toward defence expenditure, the risk of further exacerbating these tensions rises.”

Azerbaijan experienced the largest improvement in peacefulness, with the report authors stating the transcontinental country was at its most peaceful since 2008.

Elsewhere, Bangladesh was cited as the country with the largest drop in peace due to wide-scale civil unrest followed by a subsequent government crackdown that resulted in deadly violence.

The GPI ranked the countries on several factors including internal and external conflicts, crime rates, terrorist activity, violent demonstrations, harmonious relations with neighbouring countries, the stability of the political scene and number of population displaced or made refugees, military expenditure, number of armed service officers and financial contributions to UN peacekeeping missions.

“The 2025 GPI finds that global peacefulness continues to decline and that many of the leading factors that precede major conflicts are higher than they have been since the end of World War Two,” reads the report’s Executive Summary.

It added that there are currently 59 active state-based conflicts, “the most since the end of World War Two.”

“In summary, the international order is approaching a tipping point where rising economic fragmentation, accelerating rearmament and multiple competing spheres of influence are creating the conditions for the onset of large-scale conflict, and the associated economic destruction,” it warned.