Amelia NierenbergAug 26, 2026 – 5.00amIceland is really astonishingly safe.So safe, in fact, that it was national news in this Nordic country of less than 400,000 people when the annual murder tally reached eight in 2024. (It was national news again this year when the average homicide rate roughly doubled: from about two annually before 2020 to about four annually since.) It is, according to several surveys, the safest country in the world.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles