Americans are the likeliest to name politics as a threat to their safety, as no other population in the world identifies politics as such a problem, according to a new survey.
Approximately 1 in 10 Americans say politics is the greatest source of risk to their personal safety, up from 6% in 2021 and 2023, according to the 2026 Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll report.
This is 10 times the global average of 1% across 140 countries and the first time the U.S. has reached the top of the global ranking, surpassing Serbia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Myanmar, Russia, Spain and Israel by 4 to 5 percentage points.
The U.S. statistically ties with Hungary — measured several months before the European country’s recent election, held amid deep political polarization and economic stagnation — for the highest percentage of adults identifying politics as their top safety concern.
Similar percentages of Republicans, Democrats and independents name politics as their top safety risk.
Polarization is seemingly the unifying culprit, whether people express it directly or indirectly in their responses. Many Democrats cited the Trump administration in their answers, while many Republicans point to the Democratic Party.
These findings represent a larger trend among U.S. adults.
One in 3 U.S. adults named politics and government as the most important problem facing the country in 2025, far above the global median of 8%, according to Gallup.
What’s more, over half of U.S. adults said they believe the government does not care about them — a record high.
Northern Americans, namely Canadians and U.S. citizens, identified road-related accidents, violent crime and politics as the top three safety risks in 2025, at 33%, 19% and 9%, respectively.
The U.S. is also the only country of the 140 surveyed where more people name politics as a daily safety risk than personal health conditions, even though health problems cause most U.S. deaths.
These findings suggest that “psycho-social risks are becoming more prominent in daily life in some parts of the world,” the report reads.
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