🇬🇧 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Visiting: Safe
You can visit the United Kingdom safely. Road deaths are very few, ranking 7th, and women's safety is good, at 27th. Where it lags is conflict: there is some exposure, placed 89th, though that is still inside the top half. LGBT rights are solid, violent crime is rare and freedom is well protected, all ranking between 32nd and 37th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
United Kingdom: 0.9
Ranked 33rd in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Just under one killing per 100,000 people a year is only just inside the line that marks the safest countries.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine for a visitor. One of Europe's lower rates, well below the world average.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
United Kingdom: 2.3
Ranked 7th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Just over two deaths per 100,000 people a year is well under 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 the UK's own count. The transport department has published its final 2025 count for Great Britain, and Northern Ireland adds its own, so we've used the newer total.
Conflict
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.
United Kingdom: 1.66
Ranked 89th least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
No conflict death is recorded in the United Kingdom in the last five years. The last one the Uppsala conflict database has was in November 2019.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing is recorded inside the country since November 2019. Britain's strikes on Yemen with the United States are its only fighting, and that is far away.
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.
United Kingdom: 8.39
Ranked 37th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In the United Kingdom the lowest are protest, speech and due process at 3. Total 21 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
A stable democracy with free elections and a vibrant press. Protest, speech and due process are rated one step from the top. Freedom House notes new restrictions on the right to protest.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
United Kingdom: 6.7
Ranked 32nd most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Marriage since 2014 with strong protections, but the 2025 Supreme Court ruling defining woman biologically reshaped single-sex spaces, and gender-recognition reform is frozen. The law index scores 79, opinion 55.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine for gay and lesbian visitors, with life broadly settled and accepted. For trans people the public argument has turned hostile enough to drive some abroad.
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.
United Kingdom: 8.43
Ranked 27th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Seventy-three percent of women feel safe out alone at night and violence at home is rare. The courts, rated only fairly for women, are what keep it from a higher score.
Is it safe to visit?
The United Kingdom is a safe country for a woman travelling alone.