🇱🇻 Republic of Latvia (Latvija)
Visiting: ReasonableLGBT visiting: Take care
Visiting Latvia is safe. There is no conflict at all, ranking 1st, and women's safety is good, placed 22nd. Its weakest measure, though, is LGBT rights, which are limited by a censorship law, placed 112th. Freedom is well protected, ranking 28th, road deaths are moderate, at 69th, and violent crime is not a major problem, placed 89th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Latvia: 2.8
Ranked 89th in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Nearly three killings per 100,000 people a year is low but close to the line where the middle tier begins.
Is it safe to visit?
Low risk for a visitor. The rate is well below the world average.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Latvia: 9.8
Ranked 69th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Nearly ten deaths per 100,000 people a year is under the world average of fifteen but past half of it.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Below the world average, though three in ten of those who die are on foot.
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.
Latvia: 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 Latvia since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing armed reaches a visitor, in Riga or on the eastern border.
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.
Latvia: 8.69
Ranked 28th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Latvia the lowest are press and due process at 3. Total 22 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Free and fair elections with civil liberties generally respected. Press and due process are one step from the top, with corruption a concern. A visitor meets no restriction.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Latvia: Censorship
Ranked 69th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Civil unions took effect in 2024, the first Baltic partnership law, but a 2015 education law still requires schools teach only man-woman marriage and has been used to censor LGBT topics.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care. A 2015 school law still restricts how LGBT topics are taught, even after civil unions arrived in 2024 and gave couples legal standing.
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.
Latvia: 8.56
Ranked 22nd safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
The courts rate near perfect and violence at home is low. Sixty-five percent of women feel safe out alone at night, just short of the two in three that the top score needs.
Is it safe to visit?
For a woman travelling alone, Latvia is safe.