Singapore is the second safest city in the world and the fifth most popular for travellers

SINGAPORE — Singapore does it again, outstripping other countries as the second safest city in the world and the fifth most popular for visitors. The country is a regular high-performer in global indices of all kinds and has attracted more attention and respect from the rest of the world.

The second safest city in the world

According to the Safe Cities Index (third edition) released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on August 29, Singapore comes second only to Tokyo as the city with the most security across four pillars—digital, infrastructure, health and personal security.

Across five continents and out of 60 cities surveyed globally, the top five safest cities were identified as Tokyo, Singapore, Osaka, Amsterdam and Sydney.

Singapore came first in the world for both infrastructure and personal security and second for digital security.

In the index's previous editions published in 2017 and 2015, Singapore also ranked second both times, while Tokyo has been in first place for the third time in a row.

"Overall, while wealth is among the most important determinants of safety, the levels of transparency - and governance - correlate as closely as income with index scores," said EIU senior editor Naka Kondo, editor of this year's report on the Safe Cities Index.

The research also underlined the connection between different types of safety; for example, it is unusual to have a city that scores high in one safety pillar and low in another.