Who feels the most and the least secure worldwide?

Gallup’s Law and Order Index uses four questions to gauge people’s sense of personal security and their personal experiences with crime and law enforcement. These insights can be valuable to mobility programs, who can use the data to support mobile employees as they head out on a relocation or assignment. Poll participants share their level of confidence in their local police, whether they feel safe walking alone at night where they live and the incidence of theft and assault or mugging in the past year. The higher the score on the index, the higher the proportion of the population that reports feeling secure. Gallup interviewed nearly 127,000 adults in more than 120 countries and areas in 2021 to get these insights. Scores at the country level in 2021 ranged from a high of 96 in Singapore to a low of 51 in Afghanistan. 

The report shares which countries had the highest "law and order" index scores and the top 10 were:

1. Singapore
2. Tajikistan
3. Norway
4. Switzerland
5. Indonesia
6. Egypt
7. UAE
8. Finland
9. Iceland
10. Portugal

On the other hand, here were the locations with the lowest "law and order" index scores:

1. Afghanistan
2. Gabon
3. Venezuela
4. Republic of the Congo
5. Sierra Leone
6. Zambia
7. Uganda
8. South Africa
9. Cameroon
10. Mali and Kenya (tied)

While Gallup shares that the results have not risen in the last year, overall most people in the world remain confident in police and feel secure. Nearly seven in 10 people worldwide in 2021 said they feel safe walking alone at night where they live (71%) and have confidence in their local police (70%). About one in nine (11%) said they had property stolen from them or another household member in the past year, and 6% said they were assaulted or mugged. The index score for the world in 2021 was 83 out of a possible 100 — one point higher than in 2020, but essentially no different from scores since 2017.  

Historically, people in Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa have been the least likely among all global regions to feel secure in their communities. This is still true today. Scores in the U.S. and Canada and Western Europe also ticked downward. Notably, the index score for the U.S. and Canada region declined three points, with the U.S. accounting for nearly all the loss due to Americans’ falling confidence in local police. "Although most Americans continue to trust their local police, the steady string of high-profile police shootings in 2020 — including the killing of George Floyd — and in 2021, has likely shaken their faith. Nearly three in four Americans (74%) in 2021 said they were confident in their local police, down from 82% in 2020 (collected before the Floyd shooting in May)."

As we all look for good tools to leverage when managing a world-class global mobility program, this new report offers so much value and food for thought for mobility professionals. Add it as a resource for enhancing your duty of care to your people who might be traveling! 

Here are a few additional resources to consider too: 

BCD Travel has a new "Travel Risk Outlook 

Minimizing risk in a "super VUCA" world