The Deadliest Destinations In The World Were Ranked & Canada Isn't As Safe As You Thought

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One thing that's usually top of mind for travellers is safety. But where in the world is the safest place to travel?

A new ranking has determined the "deadliest" (and safest) countries in the world, and surprisingly, Canada might not be the all-around safe place travellers might think it is.

Analysis and research company The Swiftest looked at the 50 most visited countries globally and ranked them based on how safe or unsafe they are, taking into account multiple factors that impact a nation's safety to determine its Travel Safety Index.

To create the ranking, The Swiftest looked at a country's homicide rate, road traffic death rate, poison death rate, unsanitary conditions mortality rate and natural disaster risk, as well as the life years lost by a person in the country due to communicable diseases and injury.

The numbers of each factor were looked at per 100,000 people.

Based on these factors, South Africa was found to be the number one deadliest travel destination in the world.

The country was ranked so due to its high homicide rate (36.4 per 100,000 people), and because it has the highest number of life years lost due to communicable diseases (23,778 years per 100,000 people) as well as the sixth-highest road traffic death rate (22.22 per 100,000 people).

The country scored an F in six of the seven factors used in the research study.

South Africa was followed by India, which was ranked as the second deadliest country for tourists due to a high number of deaths from poor hygiene conditions at 18.6 per 100,000 people.

The Dominican Republic came in at third on the list, with the highest number of road traffic deaths (64.6 per 100,000 people) of any other country.

While Canada overall could be considered one of the safer countries on the list, with relatively low numbers in several of the categories, the country received a D- rating for its natural disaster risk.

According to The Swiftest, to determine how a country fared in the category, researchers used the World Risk Report, an index that "scores countries based on the risk of a natural disaster such as earthquakes, floods, or cyclones as well as the ability of the country to handle a disaster should it occur."

The index gives countries a score from 0-50, with 50 indicating more dangers when it comes to natural disaster risk and readiness response.

While Canada had low numbers for things like the homicide rate, road traffic death rate and poison death rate, the country actually scored highly compared to other countries for its natural disaster risk with 19 points out of 50.

It was found to be the 11th most-dangerous country in this category.

According to the ranking, these are the deadliest countries in the world for tourists: 

1. South Africa
2. India
3. Dominican Republic
4. Mexico
5. Brazil
6. Cambodia
7. Philippines
8. Saudi Arabia
9. Vietnam
10. Indonesia

Notably, the U.S. was included in the 20 deadliest countries globally, coming in at number 20 due to its homicide rate, natural disaster risk and life years lost due to injury. 

On the flip side, the safest countries in the world as determined by the Travel Safety Index are as follows:

1. Singapore
2. Denmark
3. Netherlands
4. Switzerland
5. Israel
6. Sweden
7. Austria
8. Ireland
9. Italy
10. Germany

Singapore was in fact found to be the "least deadly" country on the list for travellers, thanks to its "very low homicide rate, road death rate, and natural disaster risk."

Canada didn't crack either top 20 list of countries, falling at number 29 on the 50-nation list.

No matter where you're travelling, there are certain things you can do to stay safe, including doing research on a destination before visiting, registering your trip with your local embassy, hiring a guide, purchasing travel insurance and always following your intuition.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

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