The good, the bad and the homicidal: 23 investment migration destinations by security levels

The most popular citizenship and residence by investment destinations have vastly different levels of criminality and violence. Saint Kitts and Nevis has a murder rate 35 times higher than Malta, and Americans are six times more likely than Canadians to end up in prison. Investment Migration Insider has taken a look at some (literally) vital statistics in 23 popular CBI/RBI countries.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Global Peace Index measures countries’ security levels on a variety of measures, including, but not limited to:

• Number of homicides per 100,000 people
• Level of violent crime
• Number of jailed persons per 100,000 people
• Likelihood of violent demonstrations
• Number of external and internal conflicts fought
• Number of deaths from organized conflict
• Relations with neighboring countries
• Level of perceived criminality in society
• Political instability
• Terrorist activity

Included in the data set are 17 countries that are popular second residence destinations. The GPI did not include Malta, but an estimate has been drawn from a separate study. Figures were not available for the Caribbean countries.

While the US is, by far, the world’s most popular destination for investor immigrants, it’s also the second least peaceful of countries with residence programs. High levels of homicide, other violent crime, and incarceration are some of the reasons the US fares poorly in the Economist’s ranking.

It is worth noting that the Caribbean CIP-countries have extraordinarily high rates of homicide, usually attributed to gang-related violence. Grim reading.

Out of 100,000 residents, the US imprisons 666, Singapore 222, and Germany 76.

You can find more detailed statistics on all these measurements at World Prison Brief, Global Peace Index and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.