180 countries ranked by homicide, road fatalities, conflict, freedom, LGBT rights and women's safety
Visiting: Dangerous
North Korea can technically be visited, on a state-minded tour where every stop, photo and conversation is curated for you. That's the whole experience: monuments, the DMZ from the northern side, and minders. We're not going to dress it up — the risks of even small missteps are real and the system your money supports is the most repressive on earth. Give it a miss.
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
North Korea: 4.1
Ranked 80th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
The number is a guess — no independent data leaves a closed state's violence unknowable.
A visitor's risks are entirely political: detention, not crime.
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
North Korea: 24.2
Ranked 21st in the world for the deadliest roads.
There's no real data from North Korea, so this is a house figure from the WHO's last published estimate. It's high for a country with so few cars — people walk and cycle on bad roads, and there's little emergency care when they're hit.
It's academic anyway, since visitors get driven along showcase routes by their minders.
Ongoing conflict — war, insurgency or armed tension, at home or abroad. Lower is better.
North Korea: 2.6
Ranked 26th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Technically still at war with the South since 1953, with routine missile launches and border provocations — plus troops sent to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Nothing burns on the peninsula itself, but nothing is settled either.
Personal freedom — speech, press, protest, movement, religion — higher is better.
North Korea: 1.8
Ranked 1st least free country in the world.
The least free country on earth, and it isn't close. No independent press, no protest, no religion, no leaving — every part of life belongs to the state.
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
North Korea: 3.7
Ranked 86th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
No law addresses homosexuality at all — the state simply denies it exists.
In a total-control society the question of an open life doesn't arise; nothing is known beyond defector accounts.
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is — higher is better. Rape by strangers and police inaction aren't measured anywhere; the notes cover them.
North Korea: 6.1
Ranked 30th least safe country in the world for women.
The poll inputs are regional estimates; what is measured is that a woman has no independent court to go to, and it scores near zero.
Tourists are escorted at all times; harassment is not the issue. The state is.