Which are the safest countries in Europe?

How we chose the ten countries, and what we left out

The index splits the world into eight regions. Its Western and Central Europe table lists 33 countries, from Iceland at the top to France at the bottom. The countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia sit in a separate table, so they are not part of this comparison, and neither is Ukraine, Russia or the rest of that group. When we say Europe on this page we mean the 33-country table, which is the index's grouping and not ours.

Our selection from the sources above is simply the first ten rows of that table. We applied no extra filter and moved nothing. Each country then receives three separate pieces of information that we do not blend into a score: its place in the index, its latest homicide rate, and the advisory text from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Australia's Smartraveller site did not respond when we tried to read it, so its levels are not included.

What the 2026 index says about the region

The report calls Western and Central Europe the most peaceful region in the world, with a regional average score of 1.632 on a scale where a lower number means more peace. It adds that the region holds seven of the ten most peaceful countries globally. Iceland is first in the world, a position it has held for 19 years in a row.

The same report records a small fall in peacefulness across the region of 0.6 per cent over the past year, with 22 of the 33 countries scoring worse and 10 scoring better. The largest deterioration came from the militarisation domain, which the authors link to higher defence spending by European NATO members. In other words, part of the movement reflects spending rather than conditions on the street. Poland recorded the biggest improvement in the region, a 9.1 per cent gain that took it to 22nd in the world, while France sits last in the regional table at 99th worldwide. The report cites survey data in which more than one in four people in France say they do not feel safe walking alone at night and notes civil unrest in September 2025.

Iceland, Finland and Denmark: three northern profiles

Iceland leads the regional table with a score of 1.161. The report points to the absence of a standing military, low crime and strong social cohesion. Its homicide rate in the World Bank series, which republishes figures compiled by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, was 1.29 per 100,000 for 2023, the highest of our ten. That is a reminder that a country with very few killings can show a larger rate when the population is small, because one or two cases move the figure. The US rated Iceland Level 1 in an update of 4 May 2026 and mentions petty crime in tourist spots alongside quickly changing weather, active volcanoes and earthquakes. Iceland's own search and rescue association runs a visitor safety site that lists road and weather conditions and an alternative emergency number. For city listings see Reykjavik.

Finland is seventh in the regional table at 1.478, with a World Bank homicide rate of 0.98 for 2023; Eurostat's police-recorded figure for the same year is 1.15, which shows how two public series can differ for the same country. Denmark is eighth at 1.504 and is the one country in our ten where governments disagree. Canada's page asks for a high degree of caution in Denmark because of the threat of terrorism and also notes that gang-related violence has occurred in certain areas of Copenhagen, naming Christiania, Norrebro and Bronshoj-Husum. The US advisory for the Kingdom of Denmark, which also covers Greenland and the Faroe Islands, is Level 2 for terrorism and was last updated on 16 September 2024. The UK page carried no warning against travel to any part of Denmark. Three governments read the same country differently, and the text behind each level matters more than the number. Our listings in Copenhagen are one place to start.

Switzerland, Austria, Ireland and Portugal: second to sixth with a shared pattern

Switzerland scores 1.363, Ireland 1.371, Austria 1.421 and Portugal 1.427 in the regional table, behind Slovenia in third. Their World Bank homicide rates are 0.60 for Switzerland, 0.65 for Ireland, 0.88 for Austria (all 2023) and 0.72 for Portugal, whose latest value in that series is from 2022. The US rated all four Level 1. Its Switzerland text singles out avalanches, landslides and sudden weather changes in the mountains, and its Ireland text mentions pickpocketing and demonstrations that can disrupt transport.

Canada's pages for the four ask for normal precautions and the UK pages carried no warning against travel. What changed most recently was administrative: the UK updated its entry information in August 2026 for the new European Entry-Exit System. Nothing here is visa advice, and the official immigration pages are the place to check requirements. Our listings in Vienna are one option for an Austrian base.

Slovenia, Czechia and Hungary: central Europe in the table

Slovenia is third in the region at 1.369, and its 2023 homicide rate in the World Bank series, 0.57 per 100,000, is the lowest of the ten. Czechia is ninth at 1.517 with 0.77 for 2023, and Hungary tenth at 1.538 with 0.72. All three are Level 1 in the US system, updated on 14 May 2026, 7 January 2026 and 14 April 2026 in that order, and all three ask for normal precautions in Canada's system.

The US texts for the three are alike in one respect: the risks they name are crimes of opportunity. For Hungary that means purse snatching and pickpocketing around tourist areas and major stations in Budapest, including passport theft on trains between Budapest, Vienna and Bratislava. For Czechia the text asks for vigilance against pickpocketing in tourist areas and on public transport. Index rank says very little about this kind of crime, which is why we show it separately. Listings for Budapest sit beside the city pages we link elsewhere.

The ten countries side by side

The table gives each country's place in the Western and Central Europe table of the 2026 index, the score and its change from the previous edition, the latest homicide rate in two series, and the advisory text we read. Read across a row, not down a column: the point is the combination, not a hidden ranking.

Why two homicide series, and what neither tells a visitor

The World Bank figure and the Eurostat figure come from different compilers. The first republishes UNODC data, which relies on national submissions; the second counts offences recorded by police under the EU's common crime classification. They agree closely for Iceland, Switzerland and Hungary and differ more for Czechia, where one reads 0.77 and the other 0.63, and Finland, where they read 0.98 and 1.15. The years can also differ, as with Portugal, and we show both so that no single number looks more precise than it is.

In all of the ten, the gap between the highest and lowest rate is about 0.7 per 100,000. At that scale a handful of cases changes the order, which is why we do not sort by homicide rate. More to the point for a traveller, the problems named in the advisory texts for this region are mainly petty theft and, in some countries, demonstrations or terrorism warnings. Neither series counts those.

Limits of this list

A peace index is a country-level composite. The Global Peace Index combines 23 indicators in three domains, societal safety and security, ongoing conflict and militarisation, and the last of these has nothing to do with a visitor's experience. A country can slip because it spends more on defence. It also does not capture the rhythm of tourist crime, the quality of emergency services, road safety or natural hazards such as the avalanches the US text mentions for Switzerland.

Our table also stops at ten. The 23 countries below Hungary in the regional table include several, such as Poland, Spain and Italy, that attract far more visitors than Slovenia or Finland, and a lower index place does not make them more dangerous for a short stay. If you are weighing a specific city, the advisory text and local police guidance will tell you more than any list, including this one.

Practical notes for a longer stay

Where the US texts for these countries go into detail, they mostly name crimes of opportunity: keep valuables close in crowded areas and on public transport, and stay aware of your surroundings in tourist areas and at stations. Ireland's text also mentions demonstrations that can disrupt transport. The EU's 112 number works free of charge from fixed and mobile phones everywhere in the EU, according to the European Union's own travel pages, though some countries also keep national emergency numbers.

A kitchen can help on a long stay, since you are not tied to restaurant hours in a new city. The table beside this page lists our aparthotel counts and typical kitchen share for each of the ten countries. To compare formats before booking, see our guide to choosing an aparthotel.

How to check current advice yourself

Advisories change, and the dates in our table are the dates we read them. Before you book, open the destination page of your own government and, if you wish, those of one or two others: the US State Department travel advisories, the UK government's foreign travel advice and the Government of Canada's travel advice pages are all free and are linked in our sources. Look for the update note at the top, the named regions and the sections on crime, health and natural hazards, and sign up for email alerts if the service offers them.

Check entry rules with the official immigration website of the country you plan to visit. We do not give visa or immigration advice on this page.