🇻🇦 Vatican City State (Città del Vaticano)
Visiting: Reasonable
The Vatican is safe to visit. It has the lowest homicide rate anywhere and road deaths are very few, both ranking 1st. Its weakest measure is freedom, which is only partly protected, placed 109th. There is no conflict at all, ranking 1st, women's safety is good, at 29th, and LGBT rights are limited, placed 98th.
Homicide — world number one
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Vatican City: 0.0
Ranked 1st in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
There are no killings at all, which with a few hundred residents is hardly surprising.
Is it safe to visit?
As safe as it gets. The Vatican has reported zero killings in every year it has reported.
Road Fatalities — world number one
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Vatican City: 0.0
Ranked 1st in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
There are no deaths at all, which with a few hundred residents and almost no traffic is hardly surprising.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. No road death recorded.
Why we updated the score?
The WHO publishes no figure for the Vatican, so this is our own. It's zero, because its few hundred metres of road have no recorded deaths.
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.
Vatican City: 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 Vatican City since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Nothing to think about. A few hundred residents, a lot of tourists, and nothing has ever come near it.
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.
Vatican City: 5.78
Ranked 72nd least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
Freedom House does not rate Vatican City, so these six ratings are ours, set against its questions from the state's Fundamental Law. Movement is 4, due process 2, the rest 1. Total 11 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
An absolute monarchy under the Pope, with no parties or elections. No independent media exists. A visitor to the basilica and museums meets none of this.
Why we updated the score?
Freedom House does not rate Vatican City. We assigned the six ratings ourselves from the state's Fundamental Law, and the reason for each rating is in the source file.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Vatican City: 3.3
Ranked 83rd least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
No criminal law addresses it, while doctrine calls the acts intrinsically disordered. The law index sits at 33 and there is no opinion survey.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Pope Francis brought blessings for couples and a softer tone. Doctrine itself has not moved.
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.
Vatican City: 8.38
Ranked 29th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
The index surveys nothing in the Vatican. It fills every input with its estimate for small European states, which lands the courts and the street at fair rather than excellent.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone is safe in Vatican City.