In a list of the 50 most visited countries in the world ranked for their safety, 12 of the 25 deadliest destinations were Asian countries.
Despite dominating various guides and lists of must-visit travel destinations, Asian countries did not fare well in a recent safety index published by insurance comparison website The Swiftest.
The ranking was determined through seven factors: homicide rate, road traffic death rate, poisoning death rate, unsanitary conditions mortality rate, life years lost due to communicable diseases, life years lost due to injury and natural disaster risk.
From most to least deadly, India, Cambodia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates all made the top 25 deadliest countries, while South Korea, Japan, Israel and Singapore were in the bottom 25. South Africa was ranked the deadliest country for tourists.
The list ranked India the second deadliest country and Singapore the safest.
Of the 50 most visited countries, India had the highest percentage of deaths from poor hygiene conditions (18.6 per 100,000 people). The country’s extreme wealth gap was also listed as a contributing factor, with an estimated over-1.3 billion people living in poverty and poor living conditions.
Singapore was ranked as the safest country, with low homicide and road death rates and a low natural disaster risk. The Swiftest attributes Singapore’s safety to high penalties for crime in the country and extensive police surveillance.
Of those with the highest homicide death rates, the Philippines and India were listed in the top 10.
Asian countries dominated the list of countries with the most road traffic deaths, with Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Iran, Cambodia and China taking seven of 10 spots.
China, Iran, Kyrgystan, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia were listed as having the highest poisoning death rates, although poisoning incidents in China are suspected of being underreported.
Six Asian countries were listed as having the highest percentage of deaths from poor hygiene conditions, including India, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea.
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