Visualizing ‘Law and (Dis)Order’ Around The World In 2024

Many prosperous countries are among the safest globally, highlighting the link between economic stability and physical security.

Despite global conflicts reaching their highest levels since World War II—currently at 56—the public’s sense of safety has improved over the past decade. This rise in perceived safety is largely attributed to greater trust in law enforcement, which remains a key factor in how secure people feel, regardless of a country’s economic standing.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows Law and Order Index scores by country, based on data from Gallup’s Global Safety Report 2024.

Methodology

The Law and Order Index reflects public perceptions of safety, based on a survey of 146,000 people from 140 countries. Respondents were asked about their perceptions on three key areas:

• Feelings of personal safety

• Confidence in police

• Experience of assault and theft

Where Are the Safest Countries in the World?

Below, we show how each country ranks according to their Law and Order Index scores in 2024:

Countries with high state control had the strongest public perceptions of safety, led by Kuwait, Singapore, and Tajikistan.

Globally, Singapore ranks as one of the safest countries in the world. This is aided by low violent crime rates, at 9 per 100,000 people as of 2021. Strict law enforcement and banning the possession of weapons likely increase feelings of safety among the public. Additionally, the government enforces capital punishment for murder and illegally possessing firearms.

Moreover, seven of the top 10 countries were in Europe, likely due to low crime rates and high trust in government institutions. In particular, Finland has one of the highest public trust in police systems, at 87% of the population, while 74% trust the judicial system.

By contrast, Liberia fell at the bottom of the list for the second year in a row, driven by personal experience of crime, low trust in law enforcement, and economic hardship. Concerningly, 28% of respondents were the victim of assault in the last year, while 45% had experienced theft. As one of the poorest countries worldwide, Liberia has faced years of political corruption and low access to public services, exacerbating public perceptions of safety.

To learn more about this topic from a homicide rate perspective, check out this graphic on the world’s most dangerous countries.