🇮🇪 Ireland (Éire)
Visiting: Safest
Ireland is as safe a country as you will find. There is no conflict at all and freedom is as good as it gets, both ranking 1st. Its weakest measure is still inside the top third: LGBT rights are solid, placed 27th. Women's safety is among the very best, road deaths are exceptionally few and violent crime is close to non-existent, all ranking between 9th and 18th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Ireland: 0.7
Ranked 18th 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?
You're fine here. Violence is rare and mostly between people who knew each other.
Why we updated the score?
The statistics office has its 2025 count out, the same as 2024. The UN takes its figure from that office, so we used the new count.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Ireland: 3.5
Ranked 17th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
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, though the rate has risen since 2021.
Why we updated the score?
The WHO's 2021 figure was Ireland's own count. The Road Safety Authority has published 2025, up on 2021, so we've used the newer count.
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.
Ireland: 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 Ireland since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Nothing to think about. Nothing has come near it since 1998, and that was across the 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.
Ireland: 10.00
Ranked 1st freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Ireland every one of the six freedoms scores the full 4. Total 24 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
All six freedoms fully respected. Political rights and civil liberties are respected and defended. Nothing here touches a visitor.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Ireland: 7.0
Ranked 27th most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
It was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote, in the 2015 referendum, with self-ID the same year. The law index scores 81, public opinion 59.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. The referendum remade the country's self-image, an openly gay prime minister followed, and acceptance runs deep.
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.
Ireland: 9.39
Ranked 9th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
The courts rate near perfect and violence at home is rare. Only two in three women feel safe out alone at night, which keeps it from the top.
Is it safe to visit?
Ireland is among the safest countries in the world for a woman travelling alone.