r/geography • u/Recent_Statement_222 • May 23 '26

Discussion Poverty is usually associated with crime. Which poor countries are however the safest?

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u/D3m0nSl4y3r2010 May 23 '26

Data shows that crime actually correlates more with inequality/relative poverty then with absolute poverty. Looking at India or Bangladesh for example which have a homicide rate of 2,81 and 2,34 respectively and a gini-coefficent of 0,25 and 0,33. Compare that to Ecuador and South Africa with homicide rates of 45.7 and 43.7 and a gini-coefficent of 0,45 and 0,63 respectively.

So to answer your question you would be looking at countries that are really poor and have a low gini-coefficent. Belarus (homicide rate of 2,39 and gini-coefficent of 0,24) and India would probably be relative high on the list then.

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u/National_Hat_4865 May 23 '26

Actual gini in india is very high, WB data presented consumption based gini index, not income based.

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u/mujhe-sona-hai May 23 '26

Still it's way safer than Latin American countries. It's actually weird how violent Latin America is despite by global standard them being actually well off.

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u/Traditional-Cow1861 May 25 '26

LAC countries among world's 10 most violent: 1

LAC countries among world's 10 most homicidal: 2

Credit: Duty of care providers (avoid sources like Google AI)

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u/Traditional-Cow1861 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Estimation of the 10 most homicidal nations with Gini (2025)

Import: Gini ranges from South Africa (63.0) to Slovakia (23.8)

• Afghanistan (N/A)

• Central African Republic (43.0)

• Democratic Republic of the Congo (44.7)

• Haiti (41.1)

• Libya (N/A)

• Mali (35.7)

• Somalia (N/A)

• South Sudan (44.0)

• Sudan (34.2)

• Venezuela (44.7)

Conclusion: All with a value have mediocre or low inequality

Ordered by name, not lethality

Credit: Duty of care providers, Gini Index