Is Abidjan safe?
Cote d'Ivoire · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Abidjan is a city in Cote d'Ivoire, home to about 6.6M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 2,001 of 6,168, with a safety score of 78.9 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 185 · Fire 180 · Police 110, 111 or 170
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country5 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Borders with Burkina Faso and Mali
- Côte d’Ivoire-Liberia border
- within 40km of the borders with Burkina Faso and Mali
- Northern Zanzan and Savanes provinces
- Comoé National Park
Named in the official UK travel advice for Cote d'Ivoire (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Abidjan.
How safe is Abidjan really?
Neither Abidjan nor Cote d'Ivoire has a published homicide rate in the sources this site uses (UNODC and the Igarapé Homicide Monitor), so the strongest single indicator of city safety is simply missing here. Cote d'Ivoire's income inequality is middling (Gini 35.3) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Cote d'Ivoire at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-02-17). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 5 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Cote d'Ivoire
Terrorism in Côte d’Ivoire · Political situation · Personal security measures · Street crime · Vehicle crime · Personal ID · Dress code · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Road conditions · Public transport · Taxis · +3 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Cote d'Ivoire — country-level, not specific to Abidjan. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- no data
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 35.3country, 2021
- Human development
- HDI 0.582country, 2023
- Income
- $7,750/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 6.6Murban centre · 12,637/km²
- Nearest airport
- 14 kmFélix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (ABJ)
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 24.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 51/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 47/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 43/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.59Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 20.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 36%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.2 doctors /1k0.4 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 268 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Cote d'Ivoire
- Flood
- 4.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Cote d'Ivoire as a whole, not Abidjan specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Cote d'Ivoire (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Cote d'Ivoire; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Abidjan that gives 78.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Abidjan compared with Sekondi-Takoradi
| Measure | Abidjan | Sekondi-Takoradi | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 78.9 | 67.7 | +11.2 — better for Abidjan |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | no data | 1.8 /100k | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 35.3 | 43.5 | −8.2 — better for Abidjan |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.582 | 0.628 | −0.046 — better for Sekondi-Takoradi |
| Road deaths | 24.1 /100k | 25.7 /100k | −1.6 /100k — better for Abidjan |
| Rule of law | 47/100 | 58/100 | −11/100 — better for Sekondi-Takoradi |
| Corruption perceptions | 43/100 | 43/100 | ±0/100 |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 20.4 µg/m³ | 28.1 µg/m³ | −7.7 µg/m³ — better for Abidjan |
| Natural-hazard risk | 5.2/10 | 5.1/10 | +0.1/10 — better for Sekondi-Takoradi |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Sekondi-Takoradi →
Nearby cities
- Divo 78.9
- Abengourou 78.9
- Yamoussoukro 78.9
- Gagnoa 78.9
- Sinfra 78.9
- Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana 67.7
- Bouaflé 78.9
- Obuasi, Ghana 67.7
See Abidjan on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →