Is Antigua Guatemala safe?

Q: Is Antigua Guatemala safe?

Antigua Guatemala scores 34 out of 100 (low safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5986 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Guatemala · North America · data updated 2026-09-04

34.0Low · rank 5986 / 6,168
safer than 3% of ranked cities

Antigua Guatemala is a city in Guatemala, home to about 108k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,986 of 6,168, with a safety score of 34.0 out of 100, placing it clearly below the global midpoint.

US 3/4 Reconsider travel UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country

Emergency Fire and Ambulance 122 or 123 · Police 110

US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Guatemala, updated 2026-03-11.
UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country2 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Very high homicide rate46.4 homicides per 100,000 per year (city-measured), about 17× the global city median.
High income inequalityGini 45.2 puts Guatemala in the most unequal quarter of countries - the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset (street crime and robbery tend to track it).

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Bárcenas, Villa Nueva8 deaths · 2 events
Tiquisate, Escuintla6 deaths · 1 event

UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Antigua Guatemala, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

within 5km of the Mexican border from the Pacific Coast up to and including the Gracias a Dios crossing
to the towns of Santa Ana Huista, San Antonio Huista and La Democracia in the department of Huehuetenango

Named in the official UK travel advice for Guatemala (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Antigua Guatemala.

How safe is Antigua Guatemala really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Antigua Guatemala recorded 46 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2024 - roughly 17 times the global city median. That matters because income inequality is the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset, and Guatemala's Gini of 45.2 puts it in the most unequal quarter of countries - conditions under which street crime and robbery tend to be a real concern.

Antigua Guatemala also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 46 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 21 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Bárcenas, Villa Nueva (8 deaths), Tiquisate, Escuintla (6 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Guatemala at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-03-11). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country, naming 2 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 Guatemala

Terrorism in Guatemala · Political situation · Violent crime · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Buses and coaches · ATM tampering · Fake police officers · Scams · Criminal kidnapping · Personal ID · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Taking photos without permission · LGBT+ travellers · +7 more

Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Guatemala — country-level, not specific to Antigua Guatemala. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: 46 /100kcity-measured, 2024 · ~17× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 46within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 45.2country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.662country, 2023
Income: $15,020/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 108kurban centre · 4,302/km²
Nearest airport: 24 kmLa Aurora International Airport (GUA)

Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 22.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 62/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 40/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 26/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 5.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.56Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 29.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 49%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 1.3 doctors /1k0.5 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Guatemala

Earthquake: 9.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 6.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 4.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Cyclone: 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 3.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Guatemala as a whole, not Antigua Guatemala specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Guatemala (as of 2025).

All country-level figures shared by every city in Guatemala; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%5

Peace25%58

Equality25%44

Development10%66

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 Antigua Guatemala that gives 34.0/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Antigua Guatemala compared with Guatemala City

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Antigua Guatemala, red favours Guatemala City.
Measure	Antigua Guatemala	Guatemala City	Difference
Safety score	34.0	34.0	±0.0
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	46 /100k	46 /100k	±0.0 /100k
Conflict deaths within 100 km	46	46	±0

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Guatemala, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Guatemala City →

Nearby cities

See Antigua Guatemala on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →