NATIONAL NEWS - The Gallup Global Law and Order Index released the results of its latest survey, which probes perceptions of crime and policing among 142 countries in the world.
The 2019 Global Law and Order report updates leaders on the progress countries are making (or aren’t making) toward achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of “promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies”.
Over 1,000 face-to-face and telephonic interviews were conducted in each country – with a total of 152,000 responses. This composite score takes into consideration people’s reported confidence in their local police, their feelings of personal safety, and the incidence of theft and assault or mugging in the past year.
Respondents were asked about the crime levels in their countries and how they felt about the law and order that governs it. The Gallup Group then compiled all the results into an index ranking each country from best to worst. The higher the score, the higher the proportion of the population that reports feeling secure.
Two in three people worldwide said between 2018 and 2019 that they feel safe walking alone at night where they live (69%) and have confidence in their local police (68%).
One in eight (13%) said they had money or property stolen from them or another household member in the past year, and 6% said they were assaulted or mugged.
The index score for the world in 2018/2019 was 81 out of a possible 100.
South Africa dropped in the overall rankings with an index score of 56. This makes it the fifth-worst country in terms of law and order. Other countries in the top five include Botswana, Mexico, Namibia, Chad and Uganda.
The highest-scoring countries include Singapore, Norway, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, China and Egypt amongst others.
Here are the rankings for 2019:
Safety rankings for 2019
Earlier this year, a different study, the 2019 Global Peace Index by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), showed that South Africa had continued to drop down in rankings as one of the most violent and dangerous countries in the world. South Africa ranks 127th out of 163 countries and districts measured in the index, which analyses the most peaceful countries in the world.
