🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam
Visiting: ReasonableLGBT visiting: Dangerous
Brunei is safe to visit, with a few things to know first. Same-sex relationships are criminalised and punishable by death, which places it 176th for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Even so, two measures stand out: there is no conflict at all, ranking 1st, and road deaths are among the very fewest, at 19th. Violent crime is rare, the 23rd-lowest homicide rate, and women's safety is fair, at 62nd.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Brunei: 0.8
Ranked 23rd in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under one killing per 100,000 people a year is inside the line that marks the safest countries.
Is it safe to visit?
As safe as it gets. Brunei's last count, from 2013, was next to nothing, and the WHO's estimate stays as low.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Brunei: 3.6
Ranked 19th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
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, on the WHO's estimate.
Conflict — world number one
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.
Brunei: 1.00
Ranked 1st least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Nothing on record. The Uppsala conflict database has never recorded a conflict death in Brunei since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing reaches a visitor anywhere in the sultanate.
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.
Brunei: 5.47
Ranked 66th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Brunei the lowest are protest, press and religion at 1. Total 9 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
An absolute monarchy with no elected national representatives. Press and assembly are significantly restricted and online speech is monitored. A visitor who avoids politics is left alone.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Brunei: Stoning
Ranked 5th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
The 2019 sharia code introduced death by stoning for sex between men. International outcry brought a moratorium, but the law stands beside the older ten-year prison term. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Since the 2019 stoning law, no LGBT life is visible, and wealthier people have left.
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.
Brunei: 7.76
Ranked 62nd safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
The index polls nothing here directly, so every input is its estimate for the region. Those estimates put the courts at fair and violence at home higher than in the countries scored above it.
Is it safe to visit?
Brunei is reasonable for a woman travelling alone.