Dubai: Oman has been ranked the fifth safest country in the world, according to the global crime index, while the capital Muscat also figures among the cities with the lowest crime rates.
Numbeo, the world’s largest internet database, gave Oman a safety index score of 79.38. It is ranked just below the top four countries, Qatar (88.10), Taiwan (88.74), UAE (84.55), and Georgia (79.50).
In the crime index, Muscat figures in the top 23 in the world and 9th in Asia for the lowest crime rates.
Numbeo is a crowd-sourced global database of reported consumer prices, perceived crime rates, quality of health care, among other statistics, that are often used by World Bank and other international organisations.
Oman was ranked 58 among 140 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2019 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.
As per the report, Oman improved its global rankings in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness to 58 out of 141 in 2019 from 65 out of 140 in 2015 and 66 out of 136 in 2016. On the scale of 1-7, Oman scores impressively on three fronts — safety and security (6.5), business environment (5.3), health and hygiene (5.3), ICT readiness (5.3) and price competitiveness (5.7).
Listing out the best countries to visit in 2019, the WEF index said Oman could be rated highly for its reliable police force (rank 5), low homicide rates (19), and low risk of terrorism (rank 7). “The surest way for a country to benefit from its tourist industry is to invest in infrastructure which keeps the needs of the local population as well as visitors in mind,” it explained.
