The 2026 Travel Safety Index: What 943 Cities Tell Us About Where to Go

Kakapo's composite safety scores cover 944 destinations as of 2026. This is the first cross-sectional analysis: the global distribution, the regional pattern, the sub-score breakdown, and the 12 cities at each extreme.

The headline number: 78.5/100

Across 943 cities with finalised composite scores, the mean is 78.5/100. The median sits at 80/100 — half of all cities Kakapo tracks score higher. The bottom 10% scores 65/100 or below; the top 10% scores 90/100 or above. Most cities cluster in the 70-85 band: the score range where "you can travel here, but mind the sub-scores" applies.

Distribution by safety band

Kakapo's score bands aren't arbitrary — each is calibrated against the WHO global crime + injury database and the consolidated advisory levels of seven major Western foreign ministries. Here's how the 943 cities distribute:

Band	Count	% of cities
Caution	189	20%
Very Safe	185	20%
Safe	148	16%
Excellent	142	15%
Risky	121	13%
Dangerous	59	6%
Unsafe	57	6%
Fantastic	42	4%

Regional means: which continent ranks safest

Aggregating to the regional level reveals a clear pattern. Western Europe + East Asia capitals + Oceania share the top tier; the Middle East splits sharply between Gulf city-states and conflict-affected countries; Africa's mean is suppressed by the active-advisory countries in the Sahel and Horn.

Region	Mean score	City count
Oceania	84/100	26 cities
Europe	83/100	316 cities
Asia	79/100	228 cities
North America	78/100	183 cities
Middle East	78/100	49 cities
Africa	69/100	67 cities
South America	68/100	66 cities

Sub-score breakdown across all cities

The composite score is a weighted blend of four sub-scores: personal-safety, transport, healthcare, and night-safety. Across all 943 cities the means are:

Sub-score	Global mean
Personal safety	79/100
Transport	78/100
Healthcare	81/100
Night safety	76/100

Night safety scores systematically lower than personal-safety in the same city — the global gap is meaningful. The implication for travellers: a city's "is X safe" answer is almost always different at 11pm than at noon. Single-number composite scores hide this.

Top 12 safest cities in 2026

The cities clustering at the top of the index in 2026 — composite scores 92+ — share a profile: low petty-crime baseline, robust late-night transit, English-speaking healthcare infrastructure within 30 minutes for most central districts, and no active national advisory.

#	City	Score
1	Singapore, Singapore	96/100
2	Monaco, Monaco	96/100
3	Toyota, Japan	94/100
4	Irvine, United States	94/100
5	Zermatt, Switzerland	92/100
6	Tokyo, Japan	92/100
7	Helsinki, Finland	92/100
8	Reykjavík, Iceland	92/100
9	Hiroshima, Japan	92/100
10	Nara, Japan	92/100
11	Aarhus, Denmark	92/100
12	Lucerne, Switzerland	92/100

Bottom 12 cities by score

The cities at the bottom of the published index aren't necessarily "unsafe to visit" — some have active advisories but are still visited by experienced travellers (humanitarian, journalism, business). The score tells you what risk level the data supports; it doesn't tell you whether to go.

#	City	Score
1	Yangon, Myanmar	28/100
2	Gvardeysk, Russia	30/100
3	Moscow, Russia	30/100
4	Baghdad, Iraq	35/100
5	East Saint Louis, United States	50/100
6	Thembisa, South Africa	50/100
7	Zamboanga, Philippines	50/100
8	Ecatepec, Mexico	50/100
9	Chilpancingo, Mexico	50/100
10	Faisalabad, Pakistan	52/100
11	Manila, Philippines	58/100
12	Santa Luzia, Brazil	60/100

Methodology in brief

Every Kakapo score is a weighted composite of: (1) national travel advisories from seven major Western foreign ministries (US State Department, UK FCDO, Canada Smartraveller, Australia Smartraveller, France Conseils aux voyageurs, Germany Auswärtiges Amt, New Zealand SafeTravel), (2) local crime indices including Numbeo and the city's police-released stats where available, (3) WHO Global Burden of Disease for medical-infrastructure scoring, (4) air-quality APIs (IQAir, WAQI) for the ambient-health component, and (5) per-source weighting calibrated against the published advisory level for the relevant destination.

The full methodology — per-source weights, recalculation cadence, profile-adjustment logic — is at https://kakapo.travel/about/methodology. Sub-scores recalculate automatically as advisories change (typically within 24 hours of a new advisory).

How to use this for trip planning

The score is a starting point, not the answer. We recommend:

1. Check the composite for a broad "is this destination in my risk band?" gate.
2. Drill into sub-scores: a 78 with healthcare 60 vs a 78 with night-safety 60 are different trips.
3. Read the destination's editorial guide — Kakapo has 600+ at /blog — for neighbourhood, scam, and tactical detail.
4. Cross-reference with your home country's foreign-ministry advisory page (Kakapo aggregates these but they're the primary source).
5. Adjust for your traveller profile — solo female, family, LGBTQ+, age, mobility — using the profile view on the live report.

Companion studies

Deeper cuts of the same 2026 dataset, each free to cite:

• The Safest Cities for Solo Female Travellers 2026 — ranked on personal and after-dark safety.
• The Night-Safety Gap — the cities where safety changes most after dark.
• The Safety Reputation Gap — cities travellers fear that actually score safe (and the reverse).

Cite this study

This analysis is free to cite in journalism, research, or content — all we ask is a link back. The underlying data recomputes on every page load, so the linked URL always reflects the latest scores. Copy the attribution below:

Kakapo publishes real safety scores for every destination, drawing on national travel advisories, local crime data, healthcare infrastructure, and air-quality APIs. Independent editorial — no advertiser influence on scores. Contact: [email protected].