Safest Countries?? One publication's thoughts...

Woo hoo, Canada at number 8.

New Zealand at 4
Canada at 8
Australia at 15
UK at 47
USA at 103

Interesting !!

I agree with you all...these never give the complete picture and you still have to go with your travel-gut but some people like hard data to help them make decisions...it's a starting place!

I wonder what were the criteria. But basically agree with my feeling of safety in those countries I visited.

Anita,
Thanks for sending this link. Very interesting report - lots of info if one takes time to really dig into it. The ranking methodology and 23 indicators that make up the GPI score and their weights are found at the end of the report in "APPENDIX B - GPI INDICATOR SOURCES, DEFINITIONS AND SCORING CRITERIA".

Why in the world would >67M international tourists visit the US, including >11M Canadians? [Wikipedia data, fiscal year 2014]

Indeed Bruce, and why do people jump out of planes or chase storms ??

I can't explain some anomalies. Uruguay's place, for example, looks much higher than deserved: you wouldn't want to venture walking by night on the streets of Montevideo.

A valid point to make is that peace is not the same thing as safety.

I'm not clear on how the data is gathered for this list? If it's just obtained by individuals submitting their opinions, this would be somewhat subjective and based on personal experience or attitudes.

I just completed a survey on that website for Vernon, and I'm sure I've skewed the data to make it seem 'safer' than others have reported.

Ken,
The data sources are outlined in Appendix B (starts on Page 98 of the report). Every indicator that feeds into the GPI score has a "definition" section. It's not done by public opinion surveys. The report also mentions the work of country experts and economists in deriving the GPI scores. The study approach appears academic and transparent (to me at least). Whether one agrees with the methodology or not, it is at least well documented.

Results seem to pass the sounds right test. Syria at the bottom sound right. The US being the lowest North American country sounds right.

What I saw, felt (subjectively) , or can deduce from this last trip, I would say the safest countries are the Czech Republic, eastern Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland.

Of course, in terms of travel, there are so many variables to assessing "safety", I don't know that relying on one index makes it 100% accurate :)

The "Peace Index" is a political statement as it is based on ideology. There is no other way you can derive "peace" from statistics.

But there are a few good bits of information regarding travel. If you look at their violent crime category http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#page/indexes/global-peace-index/2016 you get a very different opinion of where to travel. If you look at murders, yet another idea where to travel: http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#page/indexes/global-peace-index/2016 Its hard to fudge hard numbers, but when the analysis begins with "a weighted ..." then a particular human is deciding that A is good and B is bad, and that is political.

These things are interesting but they are two dimensional and don't really answer the question about tourism. If you could break through the subjective analysis it would still take a super computer to calculate and it would have to be block by block, not country by country.

But fun to play with. Also see: http://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings.jsp for more fun, but pretty meaningless numbers.

I agree with Fred. I would also add Iceland.

Slovenia, Slovakia too. Hmmmmmm a trend + Iceland.

James,
Again, thank you for a thoughtful post.

There are so many flaws in the Global Peace index evaluation regarding safety that it is of little value.

Putting Algeria and Brazil in about the same level as the USA is ridiculous.

True, I did not go to Budapest this time, travel through Hungary or Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia (and Iceland!) but based on observations and experiences in Czechia, and my subjective feelings, the day to day life must be similar there too, ie , no problems on feeling safe. Comparing the number of random tourists I encountered on the last day trip to BP in 2015 to the first in 2010, I can say the numbers of tourists of various nationalities seen at the popular sights is a lot more, both bus loads and individuals.

The 2016 rankings for the 'world's most reputable countries' was also recently released.
Compiled from an online survey of 48000 people, the list is published by a Boston consultancy. Sweden tops the list, with the Top 20 dominated by European nations. Canada at #2, Australia at #4, New Zealand at #7, USA at #28.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2016/06/24/the-worlds-most-reputable-countries-2016-u-s-a-ranks-28th/#3d93d7178145

Taken from the text it is a score of the perception of an effective government, and for how appealing environment and in the nature of its advanced economy and if it is seen as safe and welcoming.

Brazil out scored the US because the citizens of Brazil must perceive their government as effective (although one of the most scandal ridden in the Americas)? And because of the appealing environment (picture polluted lakes and rivers, so much so that Olympic athletes don't want to go near them, and a diminishing rain forest) and the advanced economy (can anyone pronounce favela)

These things are amusing, but always politically driven.

Lists of safest or most reputable countries, etc. all make one feel pretty smug if your country or preference is listed positively. As this is a travel forum, perform some research if you feel there are issues that may influence your travel plans, but relying on these or similar lists for such guidance is meaningless.

Smug ? Ouch. Not nice.

I don't think lists and stats are necessarily meaningless.. but I do think they have to be taken in context.. and yes, one should still do their own research..

I do think Canada is safer to travel in then Uganda.. just do.. smug or not.

Lists like this welcome the mouthing of political spewing. Research where you want to travel and make smart choices. Don't wander by yourself at night into dark alleys, garages, or any place where no one is around especially if you're a woman alone even in the "safest" country on some list."> Blockquote

Totally agree with this comment.

Also, Canada may be safe but from a land mass standpoint, its probably as big as all the to top 10 put together (or close - I didn't measure) - there's lots of safe places, and not so safe places. I think lists like this give people a false sense of security - sure Canada is safe, but I wouldn't be travelling late at night at the corner of Jane/Finch in Toronto - not so safe.

I think stats are collected and presented usually as per capita , not based on land mass ( Canada is second largest country in world btw by land mass , Russia is first) so it's presents your chances per 100,000

I expect Thailand has slipped down a few notches since yesterday. It's disturbing that these latest attacks appear to be targeting tourists. I won't be planning any trips to Thailand in the near future!