17 Most Unfriendly Countries in the World in 2019

Before you start planning vacations for his year, be aware of the most unfriendly countries in the world in 2019.

Surely, what friendly or unfriendly surroundings might be, depends on the personal, and subjective judgment on one hand. This all includes experiences in, say, restaurants, streets, general communication with local people, services, politeness of residents, etc. Concerning the last criterion, Canada, for example, would surely be among the top 10 most polite countries.

On the other hand, it is not all about the subjective individual feeling. Expected level of politeness, friendliness and hospitality indeed rely on subjectivity. And yes, these things are important when traveling abroad. However, there are some much more serious things that should be taken into account, such as, your life! Not so long ago, Danish and Norwegian girls in their mid-20s have visited Morocco, and, being too convinced in the friendliness of each part of the country, ended up dead. These are maybe extremes, but they surely exist; some of these incidents might be no more than an exception, but sometimes, unfortunately, that is not the case.

On the matter of our today’s topic, but on the more local level, you can check out what our crew found about the 15 Unfriendliest Cities in the US in 2018 and 10 Unfriendliest Cities in the World in 2018.

Going back to the other, brighter end of the spectrum, besides Canada, among the friendliest countries in the world in 2018 were countries such as Portugal, Mexico or Costa Rica, including also some of the friendliest countries in Asia, such as  Taiwan and Cambodia.

We based our projected list of most unfriendly countries in the world in 2019, on the basis of the most unfriendly countries in 2018, since 2019  has just started. Our methodology in searching the unfriendliest countries in the world for this year included searching people’s opinions, such as expats, which we found on InterNations. The other kind of information we wanted to get was the level of risks of any kind that can be expected in countries throughout the world, which included political, security, medical and other risks that affect people. Such information was gained from Drum Cussac. And finally, we wanted to take a look at the unfriendliest countries for tourists, and sought for some of their experiences on Quora. It is important to note that we took safety as the number one priority.

So, looking from different perspectives – security, expat and tourist – let’s see how the list of the most unfriendly countries in 2019 looks like. And, you will see that the unfriendliness is measured, unfortunately, mostly by the extreme minorities, which seem to be the loudest (and the most dangerous ones).

17. Sri Lanka

There is a moderate concern for security in Sri Lanka, and to make things even worse they seem to be not very friendly people if you are a foreigner.

16. Bolivia

This country has among the lowest crime rates in South America, but it seems that people in Bolivia are among the most unfriendly towards visitors.

15. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is one of these countries that are least loved by expats. It has been on the lowest ranked countries (except for the money) for several years now, ranked by expats living there.

14. Turkey

Even though Turkish people are very friendly and welcoming generally, Turkey got a bad reputation in the last few years, as there is still a threat of terrorism in this country.

13. India

India seems to be among the least recommended places by expats, and the rank is going down each year.

12. Egypt

Equpt seems to be among the most unfriendly countries according to expats. On the matter of tourism, it is not the safest place either, having several terrorist attacks each year (though foreigners were not targets).

11. Venezuela

Due to the current crisis in Venezuela, it is not recommended visiting this country. There are a lot of dangers for foreign especially robberies and kidnapping, making it one of the the most unfriendly countries in the world in 2019.

10. Pakistan

Even though Pakistan is among the most unfriendly countries out there (including risks of crime and terrorism, bad infrastructure, etc.), its stunning beauty does not stop people from going there and exploring it.

9. Libya

Traveling to Libya is not recommended, you can experience a lot of inconveniences there, and terrorist attacks are not excluded either.

8. Kuwait

Kuwait has been ranked among the top unfriendly countries in the world for the expats, and one of the less preferred places to travel for tourists as well, due to the bad infrastructure, as their government claims.

7. Iraq

Traveling to Iraq is not recommended, yet many choose not to listen to this advice and undertake their journey.

6. The Central African Republic

Armed rebel groups represent a huge threat to people in the Central African Republic, and it is not advised to travel to this country, being on of the 10 most unfriendly countries in the world in 2019.

5. Afghanistan

Traveling to this country is not advisable throughout most of its territory, though there are still points that seem to be safe, but you must also know the right routes to get to these places.

4. Syria

Syria has some great beauties to offer, including priceless historical sites of Qatna Archaeological park, ruins of Palmyra or citadel of Salah Ed-Din. However, since there has been a constant war since 2011 in Syria, it seems it is one of the unfriendliest countries to visit.

3. South Sudan

Traveling to South Sudan would not be the best idea, as recommended by Travel.State.Gov. Frequent assaults, robberies, rapings, and shootings are just some of the things you might stumble upon in South Sudan as a foreigner (or a local on that matter).

2. Somalia

Threats of terrorist attacks, kidnapping and often conflicts in this country place it high on the unfriendliness ladder. Interestingly though, a terrorist group Al-Shabaab, which operates in Eastern Africa and Somalia as well, seems to be against plastic bags and cutting of trees.

1. North Korea

It is probably not surprising to find North Korea at the top of the most unfriendly countries in the world in 2019, as it covers all the criteria, starting from basic freedoms of media, politics speech etc.