Is Accra safe?
Ghana · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Accra is a city in Ghana, home to about 5.6M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 3,727 of 6,168, with a safety score of 67.7 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.
Emergency 999 or 112 (ambulance, fire, police, coast guard and mountain rescue) · 192 (police)
- UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Ghana as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Bawku Municipality
Named in the official UK travel advice for Ghana (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Accra.
How safe is Accra really?
No published homicide figure exists for Accra itself, so the national rate stands in: Ghana recorded 1.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2022 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Ghana's income inequality is middling (Gini 43.5) - 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 Ghana at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-07-06). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country, naming 1 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 Ghana
Terrorism in Ghana · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Safety at beaches · Safety at airports · Accommodation security · Vehicle crime · Criminal kidnap · Scams · Bank card fraud · Dress code · Personal ID · Illegal drugs · Using cameras in secure areas · +9 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Ghana — country-level, not specific to Accra. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 1.8 /100knational rate, 2022
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 43.5country, 2016
- Human development
- HDI 0.628country, 2023
- Income
- $8,080/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 5.6Murban centre · 4,998/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 25.7 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 66/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 58/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 43/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.64Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 28.1 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 43%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.3 doctors /1k0.7 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 196 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Ghana
- Flood
- 4.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 1.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 1.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Ghana as a whole, not Accra specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Ghana (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Ghana; 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 Accra that gives 67.7/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Accra compared with Koforidua
| Measure | Accra | Koforidua | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 67.7 | 67.7 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 1.8 /100k | 1.8 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Ghana, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Koforidua →
Nearby cities
- Koforidua 67.7
- Winneba 67.7
- Suhum 67.7
- Agona Swedru 67.7
- Asamankese 67.7
- Odumase 67.7
- Akim Oda 67.7
- Anloga 67.7
See Accra on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →