The issue of gun control in the US has been eclipsed somewhat by the incendiary nature of this year’s presidential election campaign, but the below map shows just how far ahead of the rest of the world the country is when it comes to owning firearms.

Data from the Small Arms Survey, supported by more recent figures from other sources, puts the US way out in front in terms of guns per 100 residents, with 112.6, meaning there is more than one gun for each American citizen. The US figures come from a 2012 Congressional Research Service report.

Second in the ranking is Serbia, with 75.6. Its firearm habit is in part a hangover from the break-up of Yugoslavia in the Nineties, subsequent wars, as well as gun laws considered liberal by European standards.

A salesman shows off a gun at a trade show in Las Vegas Credit: Getty

The 10 countries with the most guns

USA - 112.6 guns per 100 residents Serbia - 75.6 Yemen - 54.8 Switzerland - 45.7 Cyprus - 36.4 Saudi Arabia - 35 Iraq - 34.2 Uruguay - 31.8 Sweden - 31.6 Norway - 31.3

Yemen, Switzerland and Cyprus complete the top five, while the UK ranks 82nd in the world, with 6.6 guns per 100 residents.

France, meanwhile, sits just outside the top 10 in 11th, with 31.2.

Protesters outside a National Rifle Association meeting in the US Credit: Getty

At the foot of the table sits Tunisia, which has just 0.1 per 100 residents. A number of other countries in the bottom 10 have similarly low values.

The 10 countries with the least guns

Tunisia - 0.1 guns per 100 residents Timor-Leste - 0.3 Solomon Islands - 0.4 Ghana - 0.4 Ethiophia - 0.4 Singapore - 0.5 Indonesia - 0.5 Fiji - 0.5 Eritrea - 0.5 Bangladesh - 0.5

While it tops the charts when it comes to gun ownership, the US actually ranks 11th in terms of firearm-related deaths, with 10.54 annually per 100,000 of its population.

Ahead of it are a slew of Latin American countries: Honduras (top with 67.18), Venezuela, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Brazil, Panama and Uruguay. Swaziland and Jamaica complete the top 10.

Honduras has the highest rate of gun-related deaths

The highest European country is Montenegro, at 12th with 8.91. The UK is among the lowest ranked countries with 0.23.

The 10 countries with the most gun-related deaths