🇸🇪 Kingdom of Sweden (Sverige)
Visiting: Safest
Visiting Sweden could hardly be safer. There is no conflict at all and freedom is as good as it gets, both ranking 1st. Violent crime is rare, the 23rd-lowest homicide rate, which is its weakest measure but still inside the top third. Road deaths are very few, women's safety is exceptionally good and LGBT rights are among the very strongest, all ranking between 5th and 18th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Sweden: 0.8
Ranked 23rd 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?
Fine for a visitor. The rate sits well below the world average.
Why we updated the score?
Brå, the crime-prevention council whose count the UN uses, has 2025 out, the fewest since 2012. We used the new count.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Sweden: 2.0
Ranked 5th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Two deaths per 100,000 people a year is under half the EU average of four and a half.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. One of the lowest rates in the world.
Why we updated the score?
The WHO's 2021 figure was Sweden's own count. The transport statistics agency has published 2025, the fewest since the war, 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.
Sweden: 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 Sweden since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing is recorded in five years where the state was fighting. The gang shootings are a crime story, counted under Homicide.
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.
Sweden: 10.00
Ranked 1st freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Sweden every one of the six freedoms scores the full 4. Total 24 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
All six freedoms fully respected, with civil liberties guaranteed in law and in practice. Nothing here touches a visitor.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Sweden: 7.5
Ranked 18th most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Marriage has been legal since 2009, protections date back decades and self-ID arrived in 2025. The law index scores 85, public opinion 65.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. Acceptance is broad and long settled, and Stockholm holds a large annual Pride.
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.
Sweden: 9.21
Ranked 11th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Seventy-four percent of women feel safe out alone at night and the courts rate high. Partner violence in the past year, at six percent, is higher than in its Nordic neighbours.
Is it safe to visit?
Few countries are safer for a woman travelling alone than Sweden.