180 countries ranked by safety, peace, freedom and LGBT+ equality
Visiting: Not RecommendedLGBT+ visiting: Not Recommended
You could spend a lifetime in China and still be starting out. The Great Wall and the pandas are the postcard version; the stone pillar forests of Zhangjiajie, night trains, and food that changes completely every few hundred kilometres are the real trip. It's startlingly safe on the street, and the high-speed rail network shames everywhere else. It's also a surveilled one-party state, so go with your eyes open and your VPN sorted.
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
China: 0.5
Ranked 10th in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
0.5 homicides per 100,000 people in 2020 — killings here are genuinely rare.
Lower than 91% of the 230 countries and territories measured.
How peaceful the country is — lower is better.
China: 2.1
Ranked 66th least peaceful country in the world.
More peaceful than 40% of the 163 countries ranked, scoring 2.093.
Slipped 11 places since 2024 — one of the year's bigger falls.
Personal and economic freedom — higher is better.
China: 4.9
Ranked 25th least free country in the world.
Less free than 90% of the 165 countries measured — 4.93 out of 10.
Day-to-day life (speech, movement, religion) scores 4.08; doing business and owning property, 6.13.
LGBT+ equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
China: 5.6
Ranked 47th most equal in the world for LGBT+ people.
Better for LGBT+ equality than 75% of the 197 countries scored — 56 out of 100.
Public opinion runs ahead of the law — attitudes score 66 out of 100, legal protections 45.