🇻🇳 Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Việt Nam)
Visiting: Take care
There are caveats, but Vietnam is generally safe. There is no conflict at all, ranking 1st, and LGBT rights are solid, at 58th. Where it lags is freedom, which is tightly restricted, placed 138th. Violent crime is moderate, ranking 61st, women's safety is fair, at 76th, and the roads are hazardous, placed 128th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Vietnam: 1.9
Ranked 61st in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under two killings per 100,000 people a year. That is low, though the safest countries sit under one.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine for a visitor. Well below the world average — a WHO estimate running a touch above Vietnam's last count, made in 2011.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Vietnam: 17.7
Ranked 53rd in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Nearly eighteen deaths per 100,000 people a year is above the world average of fifteen, though well short of double it.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Above the world average, and the WHO's estimate is three times the count Vietnam itself reports.
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.
Vietnam: 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 Vietnam since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing reaches a visitor. The reef standoffs are far out at sea.
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.
Vietnam: 4.22
Ranked 43rd least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Vietnam press is rated 0, meaning absent. Due process and movement are 1 and 2, so a visitor who keeps the rules is left alone. Total 6 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
A one-party state where press is rated absent and expression, religion and activism are tightly restricted. Recent years brought one of the harshest crackdowns on dissent in decades. Say nothing political.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Vietnam: 5.2
Ranked 58th most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Legal, with same-sex weddings allowed since 2015 without legal effect, and the health ministry affirmed in 2022 that being gay is not a disease. Law and opinion both score in the fifties.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have lively open scenes and Viet Pride is established. Recognition is the missing piece, not tolerance.
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.
Vietnam: 7.48
Ranked 76th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Eighty-six percent of women feel safe out alone at night and no attacks on women are recorded. The courts rate poorly, and over half of women think a husband beating his wife can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
Vietnam is reasonable for a woman travelling alone.