Safest Countries in the World (2015)

Whether it's somewhere you plan to move to or where you hope to visit this summer, knowing which countries are ranked the safest can help put your mind at ease as you make your plans. . Of the 195 or so countries in the world, 107 reported enough data to our reputable sources to be ranked from safest to least safe. Here we share the ones that made it to the top of the list.

5 safest countries

These five countries have some of the best rankings in the seven data categories we analyzed: population, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and life expectancy as well as the number, per 100,000 people, of national police personnel, traffic deaths, thefts and assaults.

1. Switzerland

Switzerland ranked number one amongst the world's safest countries, according to our data. It averaged just seven violent crimes per 100,000 people. The country, which abuts the similarly safe Italy (No. 6) and France (No. 7), also requires its citizens to apply for health care coverage, which helps keep them healthy and lowers the risk of chronic diseases. And the word is out, as over 2 million of its permanent residents are foreigners.

2. Singapore

The most environmentally friendly country among the top five — it emitted 2.7 metric tons of CO2 in 2010, or 54% less than average — Singapore is also known as the Republic of Singapore. The Southeast Asia island, just off the southern edge of Malaysia, has a "Department of Statistics," and its chief statistician enjoys legislative protection. The country may have also cracked the code on public housing.

3. Spain

Bested by Singapore in safety score by a 0.97 margin, Spain and its many different regions and city centers reported just 5.4 traffic deaths (61% less than its average peer) in 2010.

4. Japan

The most populous country among the top five, Japan came in at No. 4, in part, because of its extremely high life expectancy. Like the Swiss, the Japanese live to an average age of 83. Only those residing in Hong Kong (a city that we included in our study because of its sheer size and available data) live longer, to 84. Japan is also "a cornerstone of U.S. security interests in Asia and is fundamental to regional stability and prosperity," according to the U.S. Department of State's February fact sheet.

5. Cyprus

Rounding out our rankings), the Republic of Cyprus made it this high because it bested the aforementioned four cities in two categories: It ranked 21st overall in national police personnel per 100,000 people (with 466), and it ranked 22nd in thefts per 100,000 people (with 111). The number of police officers in a country isn't necessarily linked to safety — and we weighted it accordingly — but having fewer thefts is a good sign regardless. The third island country among the top five, Cyprus had essentially been divided in two since 1974 but has been progressing toward reunification.

Population breakdown

Although we adjusted for population in our safety rankings, it is still difficult to compare a small country to a large one. To account for this fact, we separated the safest countries into three categories: those with populations less than 5 million; from 5 million to 20 million; and more than 20 million. Here are our findings:

The world's safest countries

Big countries: >20 million

Midsize countries: 5 million to 20 million

Small countries: <5 million

Methodology

To rank these countries, we collected data on a variety of safety-related topics from a variety of reputable sources, from the quality of countries’ water sources to their rates of kidnappings to the prevalence of drugs between their borders. We then narrowed our list of data points to the seven listed below.

These seven were chosen not only because of their relevance to "everyday safety" but also because they were the data sets most often made public by the countries we were able to include in our study.

We believe that a country that is open and up to date with its data is more likely to be safe than a country that isn’t. Unfortunately, there were also cases of inconsistencies in the reporting of the data that excluded some countries. Scotland and England, for example, are not included because of this.

Here are the details of our seven data points that comprise our "safety score," from weighted least heavily to weighted most heavily:

1. Population

Year of data: 2014

Source: worldometers

2. CO2 emissions (in metric tons)

Year: 2010

Source: The World Bank

3. National police personnel (per 100,000 residents)

Year: 2013*

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

4. Traffic deaths (per 100,000 residents)

Year: 2010

Source: World Health Organization’s Global Health Observatory Data Repository

5. Thefts (per 100,000 residents)

Year: 2013*

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

6. Assaults (per 100,000 residents)

Year: 2011

Source: NationMaster

7. Life expectancy (in years)

Year: 2013

Source: The World Bank

* In these year-by-year datasets, the most recent reported figure for each country was used.