What is the 2026 Solo Travel Safety Index?
The Solo Travel Safety Index 2026 ranks 116 countries based on how safe they are for solo travelers, using the most recent global data on crime, women’s safety, political stability, natural disaster risk, and travel infrastructure.
Unlike opinion-based travel lists, this index uses independent, third-party data sources and a transparent methodology to compare destinations on a like-for-like basis.
The goal is to help solo travelers, digital nomads, and travel planners understand relative safety levels worldwide, not to label destinations as simply “safe” or “unsafe.”
Global map of solo travel safety
How to read the map
- Countries are grouped into five safety tiers, from Very Safe (dark green) to High Risk (maroon).
- Colors reflect relative safety among included countries, not absolute risk.
- Countries shown in grey lack complete data across all indicators and were excluded from the ranking.
Full country rankings
Key findings: global trends in solo travel safety
- The highest-ranking countries are concentrated in Europe and Asia where low crime, political stability, and strong tourism infrastructure overlap.
- Countries with lower scores tend to face multiple risk factors, such as high crime, political instability, or elevated natural disaster exposure.
- Many popular destinations fall into the middle tiers, highlighting that solo travel safety exists on a spectrum.
Top 10 safest countries for solo travelers (2026)
- Singapore
- United Arab Emirates
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Iceland
- Finland
- Austria
- Netherlands
- Estonia
- Japan
These countries score highly across all five indicators, combining low crime, strong women’s safety outcomes, stable governance, and well-developed travel infrastructure, making them especially suitable for independent travel.
Bottom 10 highest-risk countries for solo travelers (2026)
- Venezuela
- Cameroon
- Honduras
- Nigeria
- Bangladesh
- Colombia
- Angola
- Mali
- Ecuador
- Pakistan
Lower-ranked countries typically face structural safety challenges rather than short-term issues, which can make solo travel more complex and higher-risk without extensive planning.
Important context for travelers
A lower ranking does not mean a destination cannot be visited safely. It indicates that baseline risks are higher for solo travelers, particularly those with limited experience or local knowledge.
This index should be used as a planning and comparison tool, alongside up-to-date local advice.
Methodology
The Solo Travel Safety Index combines five globally recognized indicators, each normalized to a 0–10 scale and weighted according to relevance for solo travel.
Only countries with complete data across all indicators were included to ensure consistency and comparability.
Indicators and weights
| Indicator | Weight |
|---|---|
| Crime (Numbeo Crime Index) | 30% |
| Women, Peace & Security (WPS Index 2025) | 20% |
| Travel & Tourism Development (WEF TTDI 2024) | 25% |
| Natural Disaster Risk (World Risk Index 2025) | 15% |
| Political Stability (Global Peace Index 2025) | 10% |
Data normalization
All indicators were converted to a 0–10 scale, where higher scores represent safer conditions:
- Crime Index (0–100, higher = worse) → inverted and rescaled
- WPS Index (0–1, higher = better) → rescaled directly
- WEF TTDI (1–7, higher = better) → rescaled directly
- World Risk Index (0–100, higher = worse) → inverted and rescaled
- Global Peace Index (1–5, lower = better) → inverted and rescaled
Final country scores are calculated using a weighted average.
For visualization, countries are grouped into five relative safety tiers using quantiles, ensuring balanced category sizes.
Countries not included
Countries without complete data across all five indicators were excluded and appear in grey on the map. This ensures the rankings remain transparent and comparable.
Data sources
- Numbeo Crime Index
- Women, Peace and Security Index (2025)
- World Economic Forum – Travel & Tourism Development Index (2024)
- World Risk Report (2025)
- Global Peace Index (2025)
Use and attribution
The interactive map, table, and bar charts can be embedded using the built-in Datawrapper embed feature at the bottom of the charts.
Suggested attribution:
Source: Solo Travel Safety Index 2026 by The Solo Travel in Style Blog
Request the data
The full dataset used to create the Solo Travel Safety Index 2026 is available for editorial, academic, and research use.
Journalists and researchers may request access by contacting me here.
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