UAE ranked world's 2nd safest country in 2021

The UAE has been ranked the second safest country among the world's 134 countries in 2021 in a new report.

The UAE's top ranking can be attributed to its robust health sector and Covid-19 vaccination campaign. The UAE is now the world's most vaccinated nation, with 64.3 per cent of residents fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Top 10 safest countries

The index takes into account three fundamental factors – war and peace, personal security, and natural disaster risk. It also includes the unique risk factors stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Globally, Iceland was rated the safest country, followed respectively by the UAE, Qatar, Singapore, Finland, Mongolia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and New Zealand.

The Global Finance magazine's index of the world's safest countries ranked other Gulf countries highly as well. Qatar was ranked 3rd, Bahrain at 12th, Kuwait at 18th, Saudi Arabia at 19th and Oman ranked 25th.

Among other significant countries, Australia was ranked 11th, Switzerland at 14th, Japan at 22nd, China at 26th, the United Kingdom at 38th, Egypt at 65th, the United States at 71st, India at 91st and Pakistan at 116th.

Philippines, Colombia, Guatemala, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Yemen and North Macedonia ranked at the bottom.

Top 10 least safe countries

"Countries with serious civil conflict that have high risks from a natural disaster such as the Philippines, Nigeria, Yemen, and El Salvador all reported relatively low death tolls from Covid-19, yet performed poorly in terms of safety overall," Global Finance said.

"Yemen's brutal civil war and El Salvador's high murder rate (highest in Latin America) offset any improvement in safety ranking because they avoided the worst-case scenario surrounding Covid-19."