Safest countries: UAE, Saudi Arabia rank in top 10 of Gallup Law and Order Index

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia rank among the top 10 countries in the world where people feel safest, according to a new global Gallup poll.

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Gallup’s 2020 Law and Order Index measured people’s perceptions of their own security in 144 countries around the world based on questions about confidence in local police, feeling of security while walking alone at night, and frequencies of assault, mugging, and theft.

Questions asked to survey participants included: Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live? Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged? In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force?

Singapore took the top spot in the overall index– as it has in almost all previous years - with Turkmenistan tying for first. China came in second, while Iceland and Kuwait tied for third.

The United Arab Emirates came in fourth place – along with Austria, Norway, Switzerland, and Uzbekistan - with 92 percent of the population of these countries saying they feel safe.

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Saudi Arabia came in seventh, tying with Egypt and Indonesia. About 89 percent of citizens in these countries said they felt safe, compared to 85 percent in the US, and 83 percent in the UK.

Venezuela, the central African country of Gabon, and Afghanistan ranked as the three countries where the populations feel the least safe among those surveyed.

Out of all the countries in the Middle East, Libya, Morocco, and Yemen ranked the lowest, respectively. Civil wars are currently underway in both Libya and Yemen.

Walking alone at night

The UAE and Norway ranked third in the specific index of countries where people feel safest walking alone at night, with 92 percent of the populations saying they feel safe. Kuwait ranked fourth, and Saudi Arabia fifth.

South Africa, Venezuela, Gabon, and Afghanistan ranked at the bottom of the list. Only 29 percent of Venezuelans, and just 12 percent of Afghans, said they feel safe walking alone in their areas at night.

The survey was based on interviews with almost 175,000 adults in 144 countries and areas in 2019. An estimated 1,000 adults in each country were polled.

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