UAE tops list of 'safest country in the world'

Dubai: Its now official – the UAE is one of the safest countries in the world to live in.

A recent report carried out by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has revealed that the UAE is the third safest place in the world, with Qatar and Finland ranked second and first respectively.

Iceland and Austria were also ranked in the top five, according to the Global Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015.

The report said: “While the UAE does not have rich natural resources (95th), it has built a unique environment to attract both business and leisure travellers. From Expo 2020 Dubai to the construction of the Louvre and Guggenheim, the UAE is investing in and giving significant importance to the development of the T&T [Travel and Tourism] industry."

The reported stated that: “Conversely, the UAE benefited from redirected demand as it was regarded as a “safe” destination; occupancy for the year increased 8 per cent.

"This is supported by its world-renowned air transport infrastructure (3rd) and positioning as a gateway for Europeans to Africa, the Middle East and Asia.”

Further down the list was the UK, which was ranked at 63, while the US was in 73 place, below Albania, Bahrain and Kazahkstan.

At the bottom of the survey ranked Nigeria, followed by Colombia, Yemen, Pakistan and Venezuela, as the least safest countries to live. However, a number of countries, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Libya, and North Korea, were not mentioned at all in the survey.

And just how are the countries ranked?

The report explained that when categorising countries, the WEF took into account, "the costliness of common crime and violence as well as terrorism, and the extent to which police services can be relied upon to provide protection from crime.”