Business

Muscat among the safest cities in the world: Report

Photo: Midhun Raj
 
Photo: Midhun Raj
MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman is ranked 8th on the index of countries with the highest quality of life, according to the world data encyclopedia, Numbeo. The Netherlands topped the list with 196.7 points, with Denmark in second place with 194.7 points. Also ranked high are: Switzerland (3rd), Luxembourg (4th), Finland (5th), Iceland (6th), Austria (7th), Australia (9th) and Norway (10th).

The Sultanate of Oman, with a very high score of 184.7 points, also topped the list among the Arab countries. The UAE came in 15th in the world with 175.7 while Qatar came in 20th in the world with 167.5 points.

The quality of life index is an estimation of overall quality of life by using an empirical formula which takes into account purchasing power index, pollution index, house price to income, cost of living index, safety index, health care index, traffic commute time index, and climate index.

Meanwhile, the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman, Muscat, is ranked 14th globally among the safest cities with 79.90 points in safety index and the lowest crime rate in the world with 20.10 points.

GCC cities top the list of the safest cities in the world with Abu Dhabi being number one, holding the title sixth year in a row. On the other hand, Doha ranked second while Ajman (4th), Sharjah (5th) and Dubai (7th). Completing the top ten list include Taipei (3rd), Quebec City in Canada (6th), San Sebastian in Spain (8th), Bern in Switzerland (9th) and Eskisehir in Turkey (10th).

Survey participants are asked questions like how safe they feel walking at night, how worried they are about being robbed, and about the change in crime levels over the past three years.

In Muscat, the perception of how safe it is to walk alone during night is high, while the worries of being mugged or robbed, car being stolen, being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic origin, gender or religion are very low.

Numbeo is the largest and most famous online database in the world, and it is concerned with evaluating the level of crime and the degree of safety in the countries of the world, by measuring crime rates.

The index ranks countries on a scale ranging from zero to 100, so that the closer a country is to zero, the lower its crime rates, while these rates rise if the assessment of a country approaches 100.