Planning a trip?
Here are the countries that pose the utmost danger for vacationers in 2024 — and additionally those which might be the safest — in line with International SOS.
The danger evaluation agency, in its 2024 Risk Map, has ranked these countries primarily based on a number of metrics, together with safety, medical risks in addition to the affect of local weather change.
Security dangers
African nations Libya and South Sudan have emerged as locations with “excessive” safety dangers, which is related to countries with “minimal or non-existent authorities management and legislation and order” and barely practical authorities and transport companies, in line with International SOS.
Countries with “excessive” safety dangers undergo from protests which might be ceaselessly violent and may goal foreigners. Venezuela, Pakistan and Burma fall in this class.
Residential properties stand on town skyline in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Arnaldur Halldorsson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Contrastingly, Scandinavian countries are among the many safest security-wise. The metric assesses threats posed by political violence and social unrest, alongside the prevalence of violence and petty crimes.
Iceland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Greenland have all been labeled as countries with “insignificant” safety dangers. Switzerland and Slovenia are additionally among the many countries with the least safety dangers.
Medical worries
Countries with “very excessive” medical risks, that are assessed primarily based on the prevalence of infectious illnesses reminiscent of Covid and the usual of emergency medical companies, embody Afghanistan and North Korea, alongside a number of African nations together with Sudan and Libya.
Nations with the least medical dangers embody the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia and Singapore.
Having entry to healthcare whereas touring is a paramount concern for individuals — with 60% of travelers saying that the potential of dealing with a medical emergency throughout a visit being a major driver to buy travel insurance coverage.
Primary healthcare suppliers normally don’t cowl the price of accidents or sicknesses sustained abroad, which may result in substantial out-of-pocket bills, stated James Clark, content material specialist at insurance coverage firm Squaremouth.
International SOS additionally ranked countries based on climate change and the way it may result in humanitarian crises and disasters. Though for vacationers that will not be a matter of instant concern simply but.
“We are seeing that these dangers have gotten extra interdependent. For occasion, worsening local weather circumstances might result in a rise in medical dangers, in explicit the event of recent illnesses, or the rise frequency of current illnesses,” Noriko Takasaki, safety director at International SOS, informed CNBC Travel.