What this map says about travel around the world in 2020

When it comes to travelling overseas next year, you may want to take a look at this map before booking your itinerary for 2020.

When it comes to travelling abroad, the world has never been easier to explore than it is right now.

But ease of travel and developments in technology also mean there are growing risks when visiting foreign countries. These have been highlighted in a new map that shows where the most dangerous countries in the world are located.

The map shows the safest and most dangerous parts around the world when it comes to security.

The interactive Travel Risk Map shows the countries where people are most likely to have trouble when it comes to road safety, security and medical matters.

Topping the list for 2020 as the most dangerous place to travel for safety and security includes Libya and Somalia, whereas the safest places to put on your holiday itinerary include Finland, Norway and Iceland.

According to Matthew Bradley, regional security director at International SOS, the number one risk for next year is geopolitical shifts.

“Civil unrest is generated from inequality and people wanting to have a different situation in their country than they had in the past,” Mr Bradley told Forbes.

“We’ve seen that most notably in Hong Kong, in other lower-risk countries like Chile and in some higher-risk countries like Bolivia, Ecuador and Lebanon.”

The map shows five colours – green as the safest, yellow, orange, red and burgundy as the most dangerous – that reflect the level of concern from each region.

The most dangerous countries when it comes to health concerns.

When it comes to health, Yemen was labelled as a high-risk country along with Syria and North Korea, while Australia, Ireland and Sweden came out as some of the places with a low risk of disease.

Mexico, which has dominated headlines recently following the murder of an American family, has a range of ratings from moderate to high risk.

According to International SOS, the ratings are based on “the current threat posed to travellers by political violence (including terrorism, insurgency, politically motivated unrest and war), social unrest (including sectarian, communal and ethnic violence) as well as violent and petty crime”.

When it comes to health, Yemen was labelled as a high-risk country.

“There are certain regions within each country that may have a higher risk or might be more dangerous than others,” Erika Weisbrod, director of security solutions at International SOS, told Forbes.

“So understanding where you’re going in a country is important as opposed to ruling out travel to a country altogether.”

Other factors that weigh in to how the map is determined include transportation infrastructure, industrial relations and how a country responds to a natural disaster.

When it comes to determining a travel medical risk rating, the International SOS looked at a country’s infectious disease burden, environmental factors, medical evacuation data, road trauma data, standard of emergency medical services, outpatient and inpatient medical care, access to quality pharmaceutical supplies, and cultural, language or administrative barriers.