Economy

The World's Most Lawless Country

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: November 22, 2023 8:22 am

Once a year, Gallup publishes its “Global Law and Order Report.” The report is based on the polling company’s data collection from 140,000 people in over 140 countries in 2022. The most lawless country, based on Gallup’s yardsticks, was Liberia, which is located in West Africa and has a population of slightly more than 5 million. It is officially known as the Republic of Liberia.

The countries on the Gallup list are given scores as high as 100 and as low as zero. These scores are based on whether people have confidence in the police in the areas where they live, if they believe they are safe walking alone at night in the same area, whether, in the last year, they or someone in their household had property or money stolen, and whether in the previous year, they have been “assaulted or mugged.” The authors noted that the scores have not changed much from 2021 to 2022.

The Republic of Tajikistan, in central Asia, ranked first with a score of 96. Finland followed it with a score of 92, which was the same as Iceland, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Vietnam, and Norway.

Liberia had a score of 49. Also, at the bottom of the list were The Gambia at 56, Sierra Leone at 57, and The Republic of the Congo at 58.

Liberia has been in a state of civil war off and on for over three decades. Elections in 2017 essentially ended that period, but the nation’s economy remains in deep trouble.

Liberia is impoverished, and most people live difficult lives. According to the CIA Factbook, life expectancy at birth is less than 66 years, which ranks it 201st among all nations. GDP per capita is $1,400, ranking 222nd among all nations.

Will Liberia’s place on the list change much soon? Based on Gallup’s description of the overall trends in the Global Law and Order Report, the answer is “no.”