Qatar has topped the index in the last five years after regaining the number one spot from Japan in 2019. Japan claimed the title in 2018 from Qatar, which was number one in 2017.

Numbeo is the world’s largest cost of living database. It is also a crowd-sourced global database of quality of life data, housing indicators, perceived crime rates, healthcare quality, transport quality, and other statistics.

According to the rankings, Qatar’s crime index is 14.8 compared to 13.8 last year, while the country’s safety index stands at 85.2. It ranked 86.22 in the same category the previous year.

The index surveyed 142 countries, with four Gulf nations in the top ten, including UAE (2), Oman (5) and Bahrain (10). Others in the top 10 include Taiwan (3), the Isle of Man (4), Hong Kong (6), Armenia (7), Japan (8) and Switzerland (9). Slovenia, Saudi Arabia, Monaco, Croatia and Iceland were ranked 11 to 15, respectively.

On the other hand, Venezuela remained the least safe country in the world, with the highest crime index at 82.6 and the lowest safety index measured at 17.4. Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, South Africa, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Syria, Somalia and Jamaica are the top 10 least safe countries, according to Numbeo.

Meanwhile, in the city category, Doha ranked second behind Abu Dhabi as the safest city in the world per the Numbeo Crime Index by City report. Doha scored 14.5 on the crime index and 85.5 on the safety index, compared to Abu Dhabi, which recorded the lowest crime index at 11.2, and a safety index of 88.8.

Taipei (Taiwan), Ajman, Sharjah (both UAE), Quebec (Canada), Dubai (UAE), San Sebastian (Spain) and Eskisehir (Turkiye) make up the top ten. Muscat (Oman) joined the other Gulf cities in the top 15. Riyadh was ranked 55th by Numbeo.

Qatar’s impressive hold on the top spot can be attributed to the unrelenting work by the relevant authorities, like the Ministry of Interior and other agencies, in ensuring security within the nation and at its borders.

Qatar’s ranking was further justified during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, hailed as the best and safest tournament in World Cup history, recording zero major crimes.

Visiting fans, families, and solo women travellers, have disclosed they felt safest in the country despite being tourists.

The stability in the country has promoted sustained economic growth and attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), meteoric infrastructure development, and an enabling environment for human development and innovation.

Last year, the Global Peace Index ranked Qatar as the most peaceful country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Out of 163 countries, Qatar ranked the 23rd most peaceful country in the world