When it comes to larger and more populous nations, Indonesia and China lead the world when it comes to crime rates and safety.
In recent decades, conventional wisdom has held that much of Asia is relatively immune from the high crime rates afflicting many industrialized countries.
Many expat bankers, particularly those from the rawer reaches of the Anglosphere, have had to endure this discussion in silence.
Not Here, Not There
At best, hapless expats can content themselves as all-knowing coaches, telling naïve locals embarking on vacation abroad that it might not be a great idea to chatter incessantly with that new smartphone on the subway—or take any form of public transport in a place like Paris while hauling enormous orange Louis Vuitton shopping bags.
Still, it seems the locals have been right about this all along, as a map published by Visual Capitalist indicates.
City on a Hill
Based on Gallup’s 2024 global safety report, the graphic shows that Singapore is a gleaming, even glistening city on a hill, placing second worldwide for law and order with an index score of 95, just behind Kuwait (98).
According to Visual Capitalist, the scores reflect public perceptions of law and order based on the results of a survey of 146,000 people in 140 countries in which respondents were asked about feelings of personal safety, confidence in the police, and direct experience of assault and theft.
No Guns
Moreover, the online publisher maintained that the result in Singapore was helped by low violent crime rates (9 per 100,000 people in 2021), strict law enforcement, and a ban on possessing weapons. But, in truth, we here in the region already knew that despite the large-scale money laundering case that erupted in late 2023.
One of the surprising findings from the visualization is Indonesia and China, which led the world in safety when it came to larger, more populous nations, with the former placing 16th (score of 89) and the latter 21st (88).
Malaysia Surprisingly Ahead
But the prevailing regional conventional wisdom also erred in some respects. Malaysia had a relatively high score of 87, five places in front of Hong Kong (86), although most of the financial hub’s residents see the Malay Peninsula as pretty dicey on most days.
Even Japan (86) and South Korea (85), not known as hotbeds of street crime per se, didn’t do particularly well, coming well behind the other countries in the region.
The European Riddle
Europe, in fact, did surprisingly well in the ranking, with it having seven of the top 10 countries given prevailing low crime rates and trust in government and a kind of Nordic/Baltic nexus that led the way.
Norway came fourth (93), followed by the trio of 91s - Estonia, Finland, and Iceland. When it came to Continental Europe, there were also two 91s, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Safer Now
Visual Capitalist did have some good news for all. Generally, the most prosperous countries in the world were also the safest even though we live in a new age of global conflict that is at its highest since World War II.
According to them, there was a clear link between economic stability and physical security.
No English Please
The surprising thing, or not, is how poorly English-speaking countries fared – and, of course, France.
Of them, Canada placed highest in a very mediocre midfield with an 83, behind the Gauls (84). The major financial centers – the US and the UK – treaded water in the murky ranks of the deep 50s with scores of 81 and 82 respectively.
No Go Zones
That doesn't portend much good for the world's largest financial centers although it remains to be seen if the relatively high rates of crime will have a bigger impact on their hub status in the future.
Still, that expat banker now has something new to add to the internal conversation over the eponymous water cooler beyond having to chaff at the inevitable decline of propriety in the English-speaking world. If you don’t go to the US, UK, or France on vacation, you will probably be ok.
