2024

The Global
Safety Report
Measuring Personal Security Worldwide

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Table of Contents
1

From the CEO

3

Safety Starts to Slip in 2023

5

Ecuadorians Least Likely in the World to Feel Safe

7

El Salvador Ranks Among “Most Safe” for First Time

8

Fewer Israelis Feel Safe in Wake of Oct. 7Attacks

9

Helping People Feel Safe Takes a Community, Rather Than a National, Approach

11

World Remains Confident in Local Police

13

Safety First: Sustainable Growth Starts With Ensuring People Feel Secure

16

Methodology

17

Law and Order Index Scores for 2023

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

From the CEO
The world is contending with an unsettling reality:
Violence continues to permeate our societies,
threatening lives and undermining the foundationsof safety and security that are crucial to sustainable
development. Globally, 5% of people report being
victims of violent crime in the past two years — afigure that, while seemingly small, represents millions
of disrupted lives, shattered families and communities
gripped by fear.

Recognizing the importance of this two-pronged
approach, world leaders have integrated “subjective
safety” into their development agendas. The
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16
includes “feel[ing] safe walking alone at night” as anindicator (16.1.4). Gallup annually tracks this indicator
worldwide, and we highlight its findings in our 2024
Global Safety Report.
This year’s report offers encouraging insights: Global
perceptions of safety and confidence in police haverisen compared with a decade ago, largely due toincreasing confidence in local law enforcement.
Regardless of a country’s wealth, confidence in local
police is one of the strongest predictors of people
feeling safe.

Exacerbating the global crisis of violence is thegrowing threat posed by state conflicts. According to
the Global Peace Index, there are currently 56 active
conflicts worldwide — the highest number sinceWorld War II. Even the leaders tasked with ensuring
our safety are not immune; since 2022, attempts
and successful assassinations of current and former
heads of state have occurred in countries ranging
from the U.S., Pakistan and Slovenia to Argentina
and Japan.

There are also remarkable examples of national
progress. El Salvador, once notorious as the murder
capital of the world, ranked second to last out of 134
countries for safety in 2016. Today, it has climbed
to a tie for 8th out of 140 countries. Yet, challenges
remain, particularly in addressing the safetyperception gap between men and women, as men
are over 20% more likely than women to say they feelsafe in their communities.

As the world grapples with these escalating threats,
another peril looms: the rise of fear. Yet, measuring
fear is complex. Traditional metrics, such as crime
rates and conflict reports, provide essential dataon physical security — but fail to capture how safe
people feel, which profoundly impacts how they live.

Ensuring everyone, regardless of where they live,
can feel safe and secure in their daily lives is not justa moral imperative; it is the first step to sustainablegrowth and prosperous societies. The data in thefollowing report show where the world stands on thatvital first step — but it also reminds us that muchwork remains to be done.

Our research consistently shows that when people
feel safe, they are free to thrive — experiencing
greater economic stability, contributing positively totheir communities and living longer, healthier lives.
To build truly flourishing societies, we must address
both physical safety and the critical need for people
to feel safe.

Jon Clifton

CEO of Gallup

1

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

U N I T E D N AT I O N S ’ S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T G O A L 1 6

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies forsustainable development, provide access tojustice for all, and build effective, accountable
and inclusive institutions at all levels.

2

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Safety Starts to
Slip in 2023
Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America
and Caribbean rank as least safe.

Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the area where you live?
The majority of people worldwide have answered“yes” to this question every year since Gallup started
asking it in 2006. This includes 2023, when Gallup
posed the question to almost 146,000 adults in 140
countries and territories.

Regionally, at least seven in 10 people felt safe in
Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, the Middle East andNorth Africa, Northern America (U.S. and Canada) andin post-Soviet Eurasia. Of all the regions, post-Soviet
Eurasia has gained the most ground in the past two
decades; almost twice as many felt safe in 2023
(71%) as in 2006 (37%).

Notably, on a global level, people felt safer in 2023
than they did a decade ago. The 70% of adults who
said they felt safe walking alone at night last year is
considerably higher than the 64% who reported thisin 2013. However, progress has stalled in the past few
years, and in 2023, slightly fewer people felt safe thanthey did in 2020, when a record-high 72% felt safe.

People continue to feel the least safe in sub-SaharanAfrica (51%) and Latin America and the Caribbean(47%). Further, feelings of safety have declined morein sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region overthe past two decades. In Latin America and the
Caribbean, the percentage who said they felt safe
has never topped 50% at any point.

3

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

How Safe Does the World Feel?
Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
% Yes

Asia-PacificWestern Europe

Middle East andNorth Africa

Northern America

100
80

75

60

75

74

72

40
20
0

2006

2006

2023

Post-Soviet Eurasia

2006

2023

Sub-Saharan Africa

2006

2023

Latin America
and Caribbean

2023

World

100
80

71

60

70
51

40

47

20
0

2006

2023

2006

2006

2023

4

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2023

2006

2023

2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Ecuadorians Least
Likely in the World
to Feel Safe
Excluding active war zones, feelingsof safety in Guayas, Ecuador,
are the lowest in the world.

Feelings of Public Safety Collapse in
Guayas Faster Than Ecuador as a Whole

For years, the small Andean nation of Ecuador was
known as a relatively peaceful country, locatedbetween the world’s two largest cocaine producers,
Colombia and Peru. But since COVID-19, thecountry has spiraled into a deep security crisis.
Ecuador is an increasingly important node inglobal cocaine trafficking.

Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area
where you live?
% Yes

EcuadorGang violence and homicides have spiked as aresult, with Ecuador’s murder rate reaching nearly
50 per 100,000 residents in 2023, one of thehighest rates in the world.

Guayas

60
50
40
30

In 2023, just 27% of Ecuadorians said
they felt safe walking alone at night where
they live, which is a new record-low for thecountry, the lowest in Latin America, andnumerically the lowest in the entire world(South Africa and Liberia are statistically on
par at 30%).

27

20
11

10

5

23

22

20

21

20

20

20

19

20

18

20

17

20

16

20

15

20

14

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20

13

20

12

20

20

20

11

0

2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

The port city of Guayaquil acts as a critical export
hub for transporting cocaine to Europe. In 2023,
no other region anywhere in the world — excluding
active war zones — felt less secure than Guayas,
Ecuador, where Guayaquil is located.

In most economically developed countries andterritories with strong rule of law, high majorities
of residents say they feel safe walking alone intheir areas at night. The same is true in countries
where populations are under tighter state control.
For example, these feelings were nearly universal
in 2023 in countries such as Kuwait (99%),
Singapore (94%), Tajikistan (92%), Saudi Arabia(92%) and the United Arab Emirates (90%).

Just 11% of residents in the country’s mostpopulous province said they felt safe walking
alone in their area at night.
The countries in which residents are least likely
to say they feel safe walking alone at night are
exclusively a mix of countries in sub-Saharan Africa
and Latin America and the Caribbean — which tends
to be the case each year. Only Namibia and Malawi
were not on the list in 2022.

Countries/Areas Where People
Feel Safest Walking Alone

Countries/Areas Where People
Feel Least Safe Walking Alone

Country% Yes

Country% Yes

Kuwait99

Malawi40

Singapore
NorwaySaudi Arabia
Tajikistan
Slovenia
United Arab Emirates
El Salvador
Montenegro
BahrainIceland
KosovoLuxembourg
Switzerland

94

The Gambia

92

Eswatini

91

Chile

92

Zimbabwe

92

Namibia

90

Botswana

88

South Africa

88

Liberia87

Ecuador

87
87
87
87

6

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38
38

37
37

36

32
30

30
27

2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

SAFET Y SPOTLIGHTEl Salvador Ranks
Among “Most Safe”
for First TimeEl Salvador, once known as the murder
capital of the world, made the top of
the “most safe” list for the first timein 2023, with a record-high 88% ofresidents saying they felt safe.
Although the country has drifted toward becoming a police state, thegovernment’s crackdown on gangs — which have incarcerated approximately
2% of the country’s population — has made the country safer, for now. El Salvador
currently boasts one of the lowest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere.

Record-High 88% in El Salvador Feel Safe
Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
% Yes

% No

88

80

60

40

20
11

13
20
14
20
15
20
16
20
17
20
18
20
19
20
20
20
21
20
22
20
23

12

20

11

20

20

20

10

09

08

20

07

20

20

20

06

0

7

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

SAFET Y SPOTLIGHT

Fewer Israelis Feel
Safe in Wake ofOct. 7 Attacks
At 82% in 2022, Israelis’ perceived safety
was higher than levels in other OECDmember states, such as Japan (78%),
Germany (78%) and the U.S. (73%). In theimmediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks
on Israel in October 2023, this was nolonger the case.

A much lower 68% of Israelis said they felt safe
walking alone at night where they live.
Israelis’ Safety Shaken After Hamas Attacks
Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
% Yes

GermanyJapan

United States

Israel

100
80

77

74

72

60

68

40
20
0

2006

2023

2006

2023

2006

8

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2023

2006

2023

2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Helping People
Feel Safe Takes aCommunity, Rather
Than a National,
Approach
Confidence in local police, satisfaction
with communities boosts safety.

A Gallup analysis of people’s feelings of safety bycountry-income group suggests that strategies tohelp people feel safer may find more success if they
start at the local level.

However, across all countries, regardless ofcountry-income group, two things matter mostto people’s perceptions of safety:

In addition to asking people about their safety,
Gallup also asks people about their confidence ininstitutions, trust in police, and satisfaction withdifferent aspects of their communities.
Confidence in these national institutions, such as
national government, the military, judiciary, andthe honesty of elections is only weakly related
to perceived safety, but the odds that people
feel safe increase if they are confident in moreof these institutions.

1people’s trust in their local police

2people’s satisfaction with theircommunities as places to live

Feelings of safety increase if people trust their local
police and if they are satisfied with more aspectsof their communities such as availability of quality
healthcare, the quality of schools, water and air
quality. But in low-income countries, confidence
in local police matters far more than community
satisfaction.

9

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Feelings of Safety Related to Confidence in Police, Community Satisfaction
Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
High income

Lower-middle

Upper-middle

Low income

GenderGenderFemaleMale

Views
Domestic
Institutions
Views
onon
Domestic
Institutions'Confident' in none
'Confident' in one'Confident' in two'Confident' in three'Confident' in four
'Confident' in fiveConfidence
inin
Local
PoliceConfidence
Local
PoliceNo
Yes

SatisfiedwithLocaleSatisfiedwithLocale0 to 3 aspects
4 to 7 aspects
8 to 10 aspects
Local
Economic
PictureLocal
Economic
PictureNo good aspects
One good aspect
Two good aspects
All good aspects
1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

1

2

Odds Ratio (Feel Safe Walking Home)

10

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3

4

1

2

3

4

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World Remains
Confident in
Local Police
Confidence is lowest in Latin
America and Caribbean.

In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force, or not?
Worldwide, people’s confidence in their local police— whose chief responsibility should be maintaining
public order and safety — is closely tied to how safe
they feel in their communities.

Regionally, confidence in the police is on parwith or higher than the global average in Western
Europe, Asia-Pacific and Northern America (U.S.
and Canada), and the Middle East and North Africa.
Although people’s confidence in the police in postSoviet Eurasia still trails the global average, it has
almost doubled from 33% in 2006 to 64% in 2023.

In 2023, just over seven in 10 adults
worldwide (71%) said they had
confidence in their local police.

People in Latin America and the Caribbean continue
feeling the least confident (and the least safe) of any
region, but the 53% who expressed confidence in2023 was among the highest measures since 2006.

As might be expected given the trends on
perceived safety, on a global level, people are more
confident in their police today than they were adecade ago. The 71% of adults who said they wereconfident in their local police is considerably higher
than the 62% who reported this in 2013. But likepeople’s perceptions of safety, progress has largely
stalled in the past few years.

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

How Confident Is the World in Police?
In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force, or not?
% Yes

Western Europe

Asia-PacificNorthern America

Middle East andNorth Africa

100
80

79

77

60

74

72

40
20
0

2006

2006

2023

Post-Soviet Eurasia

2006

2023

Sub-Saharan Africa

2006

2023

Latin America
and Caribbean

2023

World

100
80

64

60

60

71

53

40
20
0

2006

2023

2006

2006

2023

12

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2023

2006

2023

2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Safety First: Sustainable Growth Starts
With Ensuring People Feel Secure
People’s perceptions are highly related to hard data.
In addition to asking people about their feelingsof safety and their confidence in police, Gallup
asks two additional questions about their personal
experiences with assault and theft in the past year.
In 2023, almost one in eight (13%) said they had
property stolen from them or another household
member in the past year, and 7% said they wereassaulted or mugged. Both of these numbers haveremained stable for almost two decades.

External Measures

Gallup compiles the “positive” responses tothese four questions into a Law and Order
Index score for each country. The higher
the score, the higher the proportion of the
population that reports feeling safe.
Scores on the Law and Order Index are highly
related to traditional development indicators,
including global income, health, food security andhomicide metrics.

Maternal mortality ratio (modeled
estimate, per 100,000 live births)*-.715

Adolescent fertility rate-.686

People using safely managed
sanitation services.678

Depth of the food deficit(kilocalories per person, per day)*-.646

Life expectancy (total years).639

GDP per capita, PPP*

.614

Mortality rate, infant-.602

Mortality rate, under-5-.597Internet users.575

Health expenditure per capita*.557

Intentional homicides-.535*Log transformation

13

Pearson’s r

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

The index score for the world in 2023 was
81 out of a possible 100, which is in line withscores since 2017. Scores at the country levelin 2023 ranged from a high of 98 in Kuwait to a
low of 50 in Liberia.

Almost half of Liberians (45%) said they had money orproperty stolen in the past year and more than one infour (28%) had been the victim of assault, which was thehighest rate in the world. Thirty percent said they felt safe
walking alone at night where they live, one of the lowest
rates in the world.

Liberia posted the lowest score on the index for thesecond straight year, mostly attributable to the highpercentage of residents who have been victims ofcrime and their low sense of security.

Kuwait, the current country leader, posted scores in the
90s on the index in 2022 and in 2019. The country’s
2023 score is its highest to date, bolstered by the 99% ofresidents who said they felt safe and the low experienceswith assault (4%) and theft (1%). Kuwaiti residents are notasked about their confidence in the police.

Law and Order Index
Worldwide, 2023

50

98

14

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Countries/Areas With Highest
Law and Order Index Scores

Countries/Areas With Lowest
Law and Order Index Scores

Country

Index Score

Country

Index Score

Kuwait98

Bolivia

62

Singapore
Tajikistan
NorwayEstonia
Finland
Iceland
KosovoLuxembourg
Switzerland

95

Eswatini

93

Uganda

95

Gabon

91

Botswana

91

The Gambia

91

South Africa

91

Chad

91

Democratic Republic of the Congo

91

Sierra Leone
EcuadorLiberia

15

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62
62

62
60

60

59
58

58

57
55

50

2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Methodology
The results in this report are based on nationally
representative, probability-based samples
among the adult population aged 15 and older
in 140 countries and areas in 2023.

To ensure adequate representation of the adult15 and older population among panel members,
Gallup set interview quotas on age, gender, region
and education. There is no such quota requirement
for the telephone random-digital-dial part because
it is expected to fall out naturally according topopulation proportions.

With the exception of China and a subset of
26 countries, the 2023 results are based on
telephone or face-to-face surveys of approximately
1,000 or more respondents.

From a questionnaire design perspective, the web
survey instrument closely matched the telephonesurvey instrument with the item format adapted
slightly for self-administered mode and to captureof high-quality data via web. Gallup implemented
best practices on web-survey design to minimize
item non-response, illogical responses, andincomplete responses.

2023 data for China were collected using a web
self-administered mode (computer-aided webinterviewing or CAWI). Gallup adopted a hybrid
approach to data collection in 26 countries that are
typically surveyed by telephone. The countries Gallup
identified for this hybrid approach all have high levelsof access to the internet among the adult population.

For results based on the total sample of national
adults in 2023, the margin of sampling error ranges
between ±2.2 and ±5.5 percentage points at the
95% confidence level. The margin of error reflects
the influence of data weighting. In addition to
sampling error, question wording and practicaldifficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error
or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Gallup used high-quality third-party panels thatare commercially available as the sample source
for the portion of World Poll data collected via web
in 2023. Many of these panels are put together
using opt-in methods, although where there wasaccess to high-quality probability-based panels,
we incorporated it into our design.

16

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Law and Order Index Scores for 2023
Law and Order
Index Score

Country / Area

Law and Order
Index Score

Kuwait98

Montenegro

88

Singapore

95

Netherlands

88

Tajikistan

95

Sweden88

Norway93

Taiwan, Province of China

88

Estonia

91

Austria87

Finland91

Azerbaijan

87

Iceland91

Jordan87

Kosovo91

Malaysia

87

Luxembourg

91

Spain

87

Switzerland

91

Georgia86

Denmark

90

Germany

86

United Arab Emirates

90

Hong Kong, S.A.R. of China

86

Vietnam90

Ireland86

Bahrain

89

Japan

86

El Salvador

89

Lithuania

86

Indonesia

89

Armenia

85

Portugal

89

Czech Republic

85

Saudi Arabia

89

South Korea

85

Slovenia

89

Albania84

Uzbekistan

89

France

84

China

88

Iraq

84

Egypt

88

Israel84

Country / Area

17

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Country / Area

Law and Order
Index Score

Country / Area

Law and Order
Index Score

Malta

84

Mauritius

80

Philippines

84

Moldova

80

Serbia84

North Macedonia

79

Belgium

83

Tanzania

79

Canada83

Thailand79

Hungary

83

Bulgaria

78

India

83

Burkina Faso

78

Bosnia and Herzegovina

82

Morocco78

Kyrgyzstan

82

Pakistan78

Latvia82

Romania78

Northern Cyprus

82

Cyprus77

Slovakia

82

Greece77

Somalia82

Lao People's Democratic Republic

77

Türkiye

82

Mali

77

United Kingdom

82

Nepal

77

Australia

81

Panama77

Bangladesh

81

Sri Lanka

77

Croatia

81

Libya

76

Iran

81

New Zealand

76

Italy

81

Tunisia

76

Poland81

State of Palestine

75

Russian Federation

81

Uruguay

75

United States

81

Brazil74

Cambodia

80

Cote d'Ivoire

74

Kazakhstan

80

Guatemala

74

18

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2024 | T H E G LO BA L SA F E T Y R E PO RT

Country / Area

Law and Order
Index Score

Country / Area

Law and Order
Index Score

Costa Rica

73

Mauritania

65

Honduras

73

Nigeria65

Lebanon73

Zambia65

Ukraine73

Cameroon

64

Benin

72

Myanmar64

Paraguay

72

Namibia64

Senegal72

Republic of the Congo

63

Ghana

71

Guinea63

Mongolia

71

Kenya

63

Mozambique

71

Malawi

63

Togo

71

Peru

63

Yemen

71

Bolivia62

Ethiopia70

Eswatini

62

Comoros

69

Gabon

62

Dominican Republic

69

Uganda62

Zimbabwe

69

Botswana

60

Chile

68

Chad

60

Madagascar

68

The Gambia

59

Niger

68

Democratic Republic of the Congo

58

Mexico66

South Africa

58

Venezuela

66

Sierra Leone

57

Argentina

65

Ecuador55

Colombia

65

Liberia50

19

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