Is Armenia the 7th Safest Country in the World? The Ministry of Internal Affairs References a Non-Reliable Platform

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia claimed on January 31 that, according to NUMBEO, it ranks 7th among the safest countries in the world for the year 2023.

According to the same Numbeo, Yerevan has moved up to the 15th position among the safest of 329 cities.

Last year, the 'Fact-checking Platform' revealed that NUMBEO is a Serbian online data repository that lacks the reputation of a reliable platform, and its rankings are compiled using amateur, non-professional methodologies, not based on statistically accurate data or credible expert analyses. At that time, the Deputy Head of the Office of the Prime Minister, Taron Chakhoyan, referenced the ranking, stating that Yerevan occupies the 14th spot among the 'safest' cities in the world.

FIP.am found that Numbeo's indicators are generated with user support and based on their anonymous submissions. For instance, in 2017, a resident from Sweden attempted to assign high crime rates to the city of Lund in the southern part of the country, despite the fact that this small city has a crime rate lower than the national average. Shortly after, Lund became one of the 'most dangerous' cities on the NUMBEO platform, showing worse statistics than Venezuela's capital Caracas, which is known for its high crime rates.

This platform has also previously published inaccurate data regarding average salaries in our region, which again appeared in the Armenian information space. FIP.am found that these figures were also inaccurate.