Egypt has been ranked the safest country in Africa and higher than both the UK and US, according to the annual Gallup Global Law and Order poll where it asked if people felt safe walking at night and whether they had been victims of crime.

The survey placed Egypt 16th out of 135 countries, while the UK was 21st and the US 35th. Singapore was ranked the safest while Venezuela was seen as the least.

Egypt got 88 out of 100 in the survey, placing it on the same level as countries like Denmark, Slovenia and China. This was an improvement on 2016, when it got 82.

Gallup says it interviewed 148,000 adults in 142 countries and areas for its survey.

Its questions revolved around confidence in local police, safety at night, cases of theft and whether participants or a family member had been mugged or assaulted within the past 12 months. In Afghanistan (46%), Uganda (49%) and South Sudan (50%) residents were more likely than lowest ranked Venezuelan to say they had been the victims of theft in the past year.

 Top five safest countries:

    Singapore

    Norway

    Iceland

    Finland

    Uzbekistan

Five least safe countries:

    Venezuela

    Afghanistan

    South Sudan

    Gabon

    Liberia