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Safest countries

Which countries are safest for women travelling alone?

Facts checked against the cited sources on

This page uses no personal stories. It draws on four kinds of institutional source: the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) and its Women, Peace and Security Index 2025/26; the World Health Organization; the advisories of the US, UK and Canadian governments, which we read on 8 October 2026; and the women-traveller pages that the UK and Canadian governments publish. An index position or an advisory level describes data and government guidance. It is not a statement about the people of a country, and it does not describe every town or district in it.

Because no source scores countries for women visitors, we do not make a ranking. We report the index positions as published, set them beside the advisories, and explain what each source can and cannot say. For the wider approach see our world overview, and for advice that applies to every traveller on their own, our solo-travel page.

What the Women, Peace and Security Index measures

The 2025/26 edition is the fifth in the series. It scores 181 countries from 0 to 1 using 13 indicators in three dimensions. Inclusion covers education, employment, parliamentary representation, mobile phone use and financial services. Justice covers legal discrimination, access to justice, maternal mortality and bias in favour of sons. Security covers partner violence, perceived safety in the community, political violence aimed at women and living near armed conflict. The report notes that the scores run from .279 to .939.

This is a measure of conditions for women who live in a country. One indicator, for example, asks women aged 15 or over whether they feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where they live. Nothing in the index is gathered from visitors, and it does not track harassment in tourist districts, transport hubs or nightlife areas. That is the main reason we avoid calling any country on it the safest for women travellers.

Where countries stand in the index, as published

The report lists Denmark first with .939 and Iceland second with .932. Norway and Sweden share third place at .924, Finland is fifth with .921, Luxembourg sixth with .918, Belgium seventh with .912 and the Netherlands eighth with .905. Austria and New Zealand share ninth place at .898, and Australia and Estonia share eleventh at .896. The report says all ten best performers belong to its Developed Countries group, and that the five Nordic countries moved into the top five this time.

At the other end, Afghanistan has the lowest score at .279, and the report notes that Denmark scores more than three times higher. We give only the top positions, as published. The full table of 181 countries, with indicator scores and data years, is in the report itself and is the place to look for any other country.

The community-safety indicator and why it is not a visitor measure

Of the 13 indicators, community safety comes closest to the question travellers ask, and the report gives some figures. Globally 66 per cent of women said they feel safe walking alone at night where they live, up from 64 per cent in the previous edition, which leaves more than a third who do not. The report names Singapore as the highest at 97 per cent and the Syrian Arab Republic as the lowest at 17 per cent. It also says the Developed Countries group, at 65 per cent, scores below the East Asia and the Pacific region, at 84 per cent.

Two points follow. The report itself notes that the Developed Countries group, which holds all ten top places, does not perform best on this indicator, so the headline position does not stand in for night-time safety on the street. And the indicator is a perception measure drawn from residents, so it cannot describe how a first-time visitor would experience a particular district.

What WHO data on violence against women adds

The WHO fact sheet on violence against women, dated 18 June 2026, reports that about 1 in 3 women worldwide, or 31.6 per cent, have experienced physical or sexual partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both in their lifetime. That is about 840 million women and girls. Non-partner sexual violence alone is put at 8 per cent of women aged 15 and over, about 263 million. WHO publishes the estimates on behalf of the UN Interagency Working Group on Violence against Women Estimation and Data.

These are worldwide figures that combine partner violence with sexual violence by someone other than a partner, and the fact sheet's headline measure of partner violence concerns current or former intimate partners. They tell us the problem is global; they do not rank countries for visitors, and we have not turned them into a country comparison.

What the UK government advises women travellers

The FCDO page on advice for women travelling abroad, updated on 8 September 2026, begins from the point that every traveller faces risks, and that in some countries or cultures women travelling alone or in female-only groups can face extra risks and obstacles. It suggests researching local culture and whether women visitors have met unwanted attention, and reading the safety and security page of the country's own travel advice.

On conduct it says drinks should never be left unattended and should not be accepted from strangers, and that anyone who feels unwell after a small amount of alcohol should tell a trusted friend or call the emergency services. It describes rape and sexual assault as risks to women worldwide, with local services and attitudes to helping victims varying widely. It also warns about job offers abroad that can be a front for trafficking, covers laws on divorce and child custody, and recommends checking pregnancy care and insurance. The FCDO's general page on its advice adds that people can face different risks according to gender, ethnic background, sexuality and health, and that it cannot promise any trip is free of risk.

What the Canadian government advises

Canada's page on advice for women travellers, modified on 18 August 2026, asks women to register with its free service for Canadians abroad, arrange regular contact with people at home, and learn about local gender roles, ideally from women who live in or often visit the destination. For the trip itself it advises watching drinks being prepared and served, keeping accommodation details private and checking the identity of any visitor, including staff, using registered and reputable taxis, choosing reserved seats on trains and women-only transport where it exists, and limiting location sharing online.

Its section on sexual assault urges choosing accommodation with good security and being wary of walking or using public transport alone at night, and gives an emergency line in Ottawa for reports. It also says traffickers often recruit foreign women through fraudulent job adverts.

Advisories for the ten top-placed countries

Index positions say little about the day-to-day conditions that advisories address, so we read the US, Canadian and UK pages for the ten countries at the top. The US text for Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium gives terrorism as the main reason for Level 2, and for Belgium also lists crime and unrest, with petty crime such as purse snatching and pickpocketing described as common in tourist locations. The UK page for Denmark says crime levels are generally low, mentions pickpockets in crowded parts of Copenhagen, and asks for extra care in Christiania and Nørrebro late at night because of some gang violence there. None of these texts frames the risk around women specifically.

The table gives the position and score as published beside the advisories we read. It is a cross-check, not a verdict: a Level 2 for terrorism does not mean daily life is less comfortable for women than in a Level 1 country, and we make no claim of that kind.

Women, Peace and Security Index 2025/26 top positions beside advisories read on 8 October 2026
Published position and scoreUS State DepartmentCanada and UK advice, by country
Denmark, 1st, .939Kingdom of Denmark: Level 2, update of 16 Sep 2024Denmark: Canada high degree of caution, 5 Oct 2026; UK no warning; 11 Aug 2026 update
Iceland, 2nd, .932Level 1, 4 May 2026Iceland: Canada normal precautions, 24 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 11 Aug 2026 update
Norway, joint 3rd, .924Level 1, 5 Jul 2026Norway: Canada normal precautions, 24 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 25 Aug 2026 update
Sweden, joint 3rd, .924Level 2 for terrorism, 17 May 2026Sweden: Canada high degree of caution, 24 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 11 Aug 2026 update
Finland, 5th, .921Level 1, 12 Mar 2026Finland: Canada normal precautions, 24 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 11 Aug 2026 update
Luxembourg, 6th, .918Level 1, 7 Apr 2026Luxembourg: Canada normal precautions, 24 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 11 Aug 2026 update
Belgium, 7th, .912Level 2, 22 Jul 2026Belgium: Canada high degree of caution, 24 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 7 Oct 2026 update
Netherlands, 8th, .905Level 2 for terrorism, 17 Aug 2026Netherlands: Canada high degree of caution, 29 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 11 Aug 2026 update
Austria, joint 9th, .898Level 1, 20 Aug 2026Austria: Canada normal precautions, 24 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 11 Aug 2026 update
New Zealand, joint 9th, .898Level 1, 28 Apr 2026New Zealand: Canada normal precautions, 24 Sep 2026; UK no warning; 19 Mar 2026 update
Positions and scores from the GIWPS report; US levels from the State Department feed, Canadian levels from its open data feed, UK status from the gov.uk content API, all read 8 October 2026 with the dates shown.

Limits of this page

We used only institutional sources and left out traveller blogs, forum threads and surveys of women who travel. Those exist and often describe things official bodies do not, such as how a neighbourhood feels at night, but we cannot trace them to a documented method. The page is therefore narrower than lived experience. Country-level figures and advisories also say nothing about the many places and people inside a country that differ from the national picture.

The index is biennial and reflects data gathered before it was published, with data years that differ by indicator. Advisory levels can change within days, so the dates in the table are the dates we read them. We did not test any other country against the sources, and a country outside the table is not rated by omission. Australia's Smartraveller was not used. Gender identity, age, disability and other circumstances also shape what a trip is like, and the FCDO has separate pages for several groups.

Using the sources before you book

A sensible order is to read your own government's advisory, then its women-traveller page, then the safety section for each city you plan to visit. Share your plans with someone at home and save the number of your embassy. If you are staying a few weeks, a self-contained apartment with a kitchen means fewer evenings out for food, which some travellers value; our long-stay accommodation checklist covers kitchen, location and transport questions to settle before you book.

Entry rules differ by country and passport, and we give no visa advice; use the official immigration site of the country you plan to visit. If you would like to see where we list stays in the capitals of the leading countries, our pages for Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Oslo have them.

Aparthotel stays in these countries

From our own catalogue, computed 8 October 2026. Prices are the median lowest nightly rate per property for two adults, two nights, about two weeks ahead, in euros. They move daily and are not a forecast.

CountryStays listedMedian from / nightWith a kitchen
Denmark68not enough prices84%
Iceland31€24884%
Norway100not enough prices84%
Sweden92€13574%
Finland73not enough prices79%
Luxembourg17not enough prices88%
Belgium104€14377%
Netherlands134€26280%
Austria764€16876%
New Zealand185€13062%

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official ranking of the safest countries for women travelling alone?

We found none. The Women, Peace and Security Index ranks 181 countries on the status of women who live there, and governments publish advisories. Neither is a ranking of safety for women visitors.

Which country is first in the Women, Peace and Security Index 2025/26?

Denmark is first with a score of .939, followed by Iceland at .932. Norway and Sweden share third place at .924. The index measures conditions for women who live in each country, so it is not a travel safety ranking.

What does WHO say about how common violence against women is?

Its fact sheet of 18 June 2026 says about 1 in 3 women worldwide, or 31.6 per cent, have experienced partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both. The figures cover all regions and are not a measure of risk to visitors.

What basic precautions do official women-traveller pages share?

The UK and Canadian pages both advise never leaving drinks unattended and not accepting drinks from strangers, and both warn that job offers abroad can be a front for trafficking. Canada also advises using registered taxis, keeping accommodation details private and telling family or friends your plans.

Does a Level 2 advisory mean a country is worse for women?

No. In the texts we read for Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium the US reasons were terrorism, with crime and unrest also given for Belgium. None of those reasons is specific to women. Read the full advisory for your destination.

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Sources

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