🇫🇮 Republic of Finland (Suomi)
Visiting: Safe
Visiting Finland could hardly be safer. Two measures stand out: there is no conflict at all and freedom is as good as it gets, both ranking 1st. Even its weakest measure is a good one: violent crime is rare, the 50th-lowest homicide rate. Road deaths are very few, LGBT rights are exceptionally strong and women's safety is among the very best, with all three ranking between 16th and 18th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Finland: 1.4
Ranked 50th in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under one and a half killings per 100,000 people a year is low. The safest countries sit under one, and Finland is a shade above.
Is it safe to visit?
Bad year or not, you're fine. Strangers are rarely involved.
Why we updated the score?
Statistics Finland's 2025 count is up on the year before. The UN takes its figure from Statistics Finland, so we used the new count.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Finland: 3.4
Ranked 16th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Under three and a half 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 Statistics Finland's own count. Its preliminary 2025 count is down on 2021, so we've used it and the rate drops a band.
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.
Finland: 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 Finland since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing armed reaches a visitor, even on the Russian border.
Freedom — world number one
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.
Finland: 10.00
Ranked 1st freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Finland every one of the six freedoms scores the full 4. Total 24 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
All six freedoms fully respected. Free elections, no significant corruption, and an independent judiciary. Nothing here touches a visitor.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Finland: 7.6
Ranked 16th most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Marriage has been legal since 2017 by citizens' initiative, and a 2023 self-ID law replaced the old sterilisation requirement. The law index scores 87, public opinion 66.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. Reliably tolerant, with Helsinki Pride among the country's biggest public events.
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.
Finland: 8.78
Ranked 18th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Seventy-eight percent of women feel safe out alone at night and the courts rate high. Partner violence in the past year, at eight percent, is well above its Nordic neighbours.
Is it safe to visit?
Finland is among the safest countries in the world for a woman travelling alone.