🇧🇪 Kingdom of Belgium (België)
Visiting: Safe
For a visitor, Belgium is safe. Two measures stand out: LGBT rights are among the very strongest, ranking 10th, and freedom is as good as it gets, at 16th. Its weakest measure is conflict: there is some exposure, placed 84th, though that is still inside the top half. Road deaths are very few, women's safety is good and violent crime is rare, with all three ranking between 20th and 44th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Belgium: 1.1
Ranked 44th in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Just over one killing per 100,000 people a year is a whisker outside the line that marks the safest countries.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. The newest count, from 2021, sits well below the world average.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Belgium: 3.9
Ranked 20th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Just under four deaths per 100,000 people a year is comfortably under the EU average of four and a half.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Well below the world average.
Why we updated the score?
The WHO's 2021 figure was Belgium's own count. The Vias road-safety institute has published 2025, the fewest ever, so we've used the newer count and the rate drops a band.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Belgium: 1.53
Ranked 84th least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
No conflict death is recorded in Belgium in the last five years. The last one the Uppsala conflict database has was in May 2018.
Is it safe to visit?
Nothing to think about. Nothing armed anywhere near it.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Belgium: 8.99
Ranked 16th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Belgium the lowest is religion at 3. Total 23 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
A stable democracy where political rights and civil liberties are guaranteed and largely respected. Religion is rated one step from the top. A visitor meets no restriction.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Belgium: 7.8
Ranked 10th most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
It was the world's second country with same-sex marriage, in 2003, and has full adoption and self-ID gender recognition. The law index scores 95, public opinion 61.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. Deeply embedded acceptance, big Prides in Brussels and Antwerp, and politics where the question is settled.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Belgium: 8.59
Ranked 21st safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
The courts rate near perfect and violence at home is rare. Only 63 percent of women feel safe walking alone at night, short of the two in three that the top score needs.
Is it safe to visit?
Belgium is a safe country for a woman travelling alone.