Safest and most dangerous countries worldwide revealed

International SOS map

International SOS Risk Map 2023 highlights security and medical risk levels

Security and health risk services company, International SOS, has released its annual interactive Risk Map 2023.

The map is designed to help organisations and their mobile workers better understand the risk levels of each country around the world. As global risks continue to evolve, such as the ongoing impact of Covid-19 and the Ukraine conflict, the data-driven risk map helps organisations maintain duty of care for employees.

Medical risks

For the first time, this map provides a layer showing mental health conditions globally, from data provided by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Global Burden and Disease. It shows the estimated percentage of a location’s population having mental health issues, allowing companies to understand the support levels required.

Dr Irene Lai, Medical Director at International SOS, said: “The detail provided by the Risk Map can help decision-makers better protect their staff, gauging which locations are challenged with access to medical care, or are particularly vulnerable to mental health issues.”

Changes in this year’s map include the improvement in medical risk in the Caribbean islands, due to the easing of Covid-related travel restrictions, and an increase to ‘Very High’ risk for Mali, where a challenging humanitarian situation is causing the healthcare system to struggle with demand.

Ukraine still a major risk

The security-focused map reflects the major crisis in Ukraine, with parts of the country now marked as having an ‘Extreme’ security risk.

However, despite the rise in social unrest due to the cost of living crisis, the security risk environment hasn’t changed in Europe.

Aside from Ukraine, the most notable extreme risk zone expansions have been in Sahel, in regards to militancy. This trend is also seen in Mozambique and other parts of Africa.

In Colombia, there has been a rise in criminality, partly because of the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, causing an impact in high-risk zones.

Where is safe?

Data from the maps suggests the following countries are safe bets to travel to in the next few months:

  1. Norway
  2. Finland
  3. Switzerland
  4. Denmark
  5. Iceland.

Many of these countries have maintained a calm and safe security environment in the past year.

However, employers may struggle to persuade employees to travel anyway, since business travellers have said they are less willing to travel for work.