Singapore Tops Gallup Safety Ranking With 98% Feeling Safe Walking Alone at Night

Nearly everyone in Singapore feels safe after dark

Singapore has topped Gallup's global ranking for feelings of safety for the 12th time since the organisation began asking its nighttime safety question in 2006. In the 2025 Global Safety Report, 98 percent of adults in the city state said they felt safe walking alone at night where they live.

The report draws on more than 145,000 interviews conducted across 144 countries and territories in 2024. Singapore's result stands 25 percentage points above the global figure of 73 percent, itself the highest recorded in Gallup's trend.

Singapore's strong showing has also been consistent. The share of adults reporting that they feel safe has never fallen below 94 percent in the past five measurements. Men and women give almost identical answers: 98 percent of men and 97 percent of women say they feel safe walking alone after dark.

Gallup points to low crime, effective law enforcement and strong public order as the main ingredients behind Singapore's repeated success. The results describe an everyday experience of security, whether someone is returning from work, waiting at a transit stop or walking through their neighbourhood.

Worldwide, the rise in perceived safety came during a year that also recorded the largest number of armed conflicts since World War II. The findings show how strongly local conditions, trust and community strength shape people's daily sense of security, even during a period of widespread conflict.

Singapore leads a group of countries and territories where more than nine in 10 adults feel safe at night. At the other end of the ranking, only 33 percent of adults in South Africa say the same, a gap of 65 percentage points from Singapore.

What Gallup asks and who takes part

Gallup measures nighttime safety by asking people about the place where they live. Its question is direct:

Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?

The answers come from nationally representative samples of people aged 15 and older. Participants are selected through probability sampling, a method that gives people a known chance of selection and helps the results represent the wider population.

Interviews take place by telephone or in person, typically with about 1,000 or more respondents in each country. Gallup reports margins of sampling error ranging from plus or minus 3.3 to 5.4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. These figures describe the uncertainty that comes from surveying a sample rather than every person.

The nighttime question captures experiences that can be easy to overlook in national statistics. Street lighting, the visibility and responsiveness of police, recent crimes, neighbourhood design and social norms can all affect how someone feels on a familiar route.

The United Nations uses Gallup's measure as an indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 16, which seeks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies. It helps track progress toward reducing violence and improving people's sense of security in their own communities.

Four questions behind the Law and Order Index

Gallup also brings together perceptions of safety, confidence in police and experiences of crime in its Law and Order Index. The index runs from 0 to 100 and recorded a global score of 83 in 2024.

The index combines responses to four questions:

• Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
• Do you have confidence in the local police force where you live?
• Within the last 12 months, have you or a household member had money or property stolen?
• Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged?

Countries with strong index results tend to combine fewer experiences of personal victimisation with greater trust in local police and public order. Singapore places at or near the top, matching its strong position on the nighttime safety question. The four questions connect how safe people feel with what has happened to them and how much confidence they have in the institutions responsible for protecting them.

Why Singapore's sense of security stays high

Singapore combines low crime by international standards with enforcement that is consistent and visible. Its urban layout, extensive camera coverage, clean and well lit public spaces, and efficient public transport reduce the points of vulnerability that can make movement through a large city feel unsafe.

A culture that prizes order and respect for rules also contributes to a daily environment that feels predictable. For residents, that predictability matters along the whole journey, from the pavement outside their home to a bus stop or station and the final walk to their destination.

Trust in institutions is another part of the picture. Confidence in local police is strong, and response times are generally quick. Courts move efficiently, fines and penalties are clear, and certainty about consequences helps deter opportunistic crime.

Singapore's compact geography and integrated planning allow safety measures to be applied across neighbourhoods and transport networks with unusual consistency. Residents in different parts of the country can therefore have similar experiences of public safety.

Gallup cautions that Singapore's combination of high income status, small size and deep institutional trust is difficult to reproduce. Larger countries, places with lower population density and countries where authority is spread across many local administrations face different practical conditions.

Several elements can still be applied elsewhere. Better lighting, reliable transport, responsive policing, support for victims, clear community standards and consistent enforcement can improve confidence even where Singapore's starting conditions are absent. The common thread is the quality of the places and services people use every day.

Who follows Singapore in the rankings?

Tajikistan follows Singapore with 95 percent of adults feeling safe walking alone at night. China and Oman both record 94 percent, while Saudi Arabia stands at 93 percent.

The ten highest shares in the survey are:

• Singapore: 98 percent.
• Tajikistan: 95 percent.
• China: 94 percent.
• Oman: 94 percent.
• Saudi Arabia: 93 percent.
• Hong Kong: 91 percent.
• Kuwait: 91 percent.
• Norway: 91 percent.
• Bahrain: 90 percent.
• United Arab Emirates: 90 percent.

Norway leads Europe on this question, with 91 percent reporting that they feel safe after dark. Several Gulf states also sit near the top, alongside Singapore, Tajikistan, China and Hong Kong. The leading results extend across places with different geographic settings and systems of government.

Regional gains sit beside persistent insecurity

Asia Pacific has the highest regional share of adults who feel safe walking alone at night, at 79 percent. Western Europe follows at 77 percent. Both are above the global result of 73 percent.

Latin America and the Caribbean have reached 50 percent for the first time in Gallup's trend. Half of adults in the region now say they feel safe walking alone after dark, a milestone even though the figure remains below the worldwide level.

Sub Saharan Africa stands at 53 percent. That is an improvement from its recent low during the pandemic, although it remains below other regions. In North America, 71 percent of adults in the United States and 75 percent in Canada report feeling safe at night.

South Africa sits at the bottom of the global ranking, with 33 percent. Feelings of safety there have remained low for years, influenced by high levels of violent crime and limited policing coverage in many communities.

Four countries neighbouring South Africa, including Lesotho and Botswana, also sit near the bottom. Persistent violent crime, shortages of policing resources and longstanding inequality help shape how people in many communities experience the streets after dark.

Local conditions can improve when institutions become more reliable, public services reach more neighbourhoods and justice systems work more effectively. The regional figures show why a rising global average can exist alongside places where large majorities still feel unsafe.

Women remain less likely to feel safe

Worldwide, 78 percent of men say they feel safe walking alone at night, compared with 67 percent of women. The difference is 11 percentage points. In 104 of the 144 countries and territories surveyed, the gap between men and women is at least 10 percentage points.

Several countries with high incomes have large gaps. Differences in everyday risks, harassment, use of public transport and access to safe, well lit routes all shape women's experiences after dark.

Singapore stands apart for its near parity: 98 percent of men and 97 percent of women feel safe. Its gap of one percentage point compares with the global gap of 11 points.

Extensive lighting, visible policing, efficient transport and predictable enforcement appear to help narrow that difference in Singapore. Women and men can report similarly high confidence when the conditions surrounding their daily journeys support a strong sense of security.

The pattern points toward practical investments in transit safety, street lighting and swift responses to harassment and assault. Measures addressing conditions that disproportionately affect women can also improve confidence for the wider population.

How to understand the survey results

Gallup's question measures people's sense of security in their own surroundings. That feeling has practical consequences. People who feel safe can take part more fully in community life, use public spaces and support local businesses after dark.

Fear of crime can have the opposite effect. It can keep residents at home, discourage public transport use and reduce activity in neighbourhoods. Asking the same question across countries gives a consistent way to follow these experiences.

Culture and geography influence what people picture when asked about walking alone at night. In some places, few people regularly do so even when streets are safe. Elsewhere, evening activity is a normal part of daily life. Rural and urban settings also differ.

Media coverage, a recent incident that attracts widespread attention or a local rumour can change perceptions without a matching movement in recorded crime. Small changes from one year to the next may fall within the survey's margin of error, making longer trends more useful for understanding a country's direction.

Trust in police, the presence of neighbours and small choices in street design also matter. Lighting in alleyways, clear views around bus stops and well maintained pedestrian paths can affect how secure someone feels. Gallup's Law and Order Index adds context by bringing police confidence together with experiences of theft and assault.

Crime statistics and surveys answer different practical questions. Recorded offences describe crimes brought into official systems, while Gallup's question describes whether people feel comfortable moving through their own communities after dark. Considering both gives policymakers a fuller picture of daily life.

What cities can take from the findings

City leaders seeking to improve confidence need to look beyond headline crime figures. Places that score well combine visible patrols and reliable emergency responses with public spaces and services that make ordinary journeys feel secure.

Residents judge those conditions locally: on the route to the bus, along the footpath outside their home or in the park they cross to reach a shop. A city's broad reputation matters less to that journey than what someone encounters along the way.

Practical priorities include:

• Improve lighting on streets, paths and transit stops used by pedestrians after dark.
• Make public transport reliable and provide cameras, trained staff and rapid responses to incidents.
• Build confidence in police through community presence, fair treatment and clear communication.
• Support victims and witnesses so crimes are reported and addressed.
• Remove obstructions that block views, keep public areas active at night and maintain clean surroundings.
• Track recorded crime and residents' perceptions through regular local surveys.

Regular measurement can help cities see whether investment changes how residents feel. Better services, consistent enforcement and fair treatment all contribute to the trust that makes public space usable after dark.

What the figures mean for travellers

Travellers can use Gallup's results to understand how residents experience their own streets after dark. Singapore and several Gulf states stand out for the high shares of people who say they feel safe.

Conditions still vary between cities and neighbourhoods, and can change in real time. Official travel guidance, basic precautions and plans suited to a person's comfort level remain useful when choosing where and when to go out.

The survey's strongest message concerns everyday life. In Singapore, near universal confidence extends across men and women and has remained high across repeated measurements. Across the world, a record share of adults now report feeling safe, while the regional and gender figures show where insecurity continues to limit daily activity.

At a Glance

• Singapore leads with 98 percent of adults feeling safe walking alone at night, its 12th time at the top since Gallup began the question in 2006.
• The 2025 report reflects more than 145,000 interviews across 144 countries and territories in 2024.
• Global feelings of nighttime safety reached a record 73 percent.
• Singapore's result has stayed at or above 94 percent in the past five measurements.
• Tajikistan follows at 95 percent, with China and Oman at 94 percent and Saudi Arabia at 93 percent.
• Asia Pacific leads the regions at 79 percent, followed by Western Europe at 77 percent.
• South Africa ranks lowest at 33 percent; Norway leads Europe at 91 percent.
• Worldwide, 78 percent of men and 67 percent of women feel safe, compared with 98 percent and 97 percent in Singapore.
• Gallup's Law and Order Index recorded a global score of 83 in 2024.
• The United Nations uses the nighttime safety measure to track progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 16.