Is Banfora safe?
Burkina Faso · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Banfora is a city in Burkina Faso, home to about 173k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,104 of 6,168, with a safety score of 51.6 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency Ambulance 18 · Fire 18 · Police 17
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Burkina Faso, updated 2026-05-03.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to this countryOfficial UK government travel advice, updated 2025-12-10.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- #Pala, Haut Bassin19 deaths · 1 event
- #Mangodara near the Ivorian border between #Banfora and #Mangodara, near the classified forest of #Koflandé near Linguekoro15 deaths · 1 event
- Niangoloko area, Comoé9 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Banfora, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
How safe is Banfora really?
Neither Banfora nor Burkina Faso 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. Burkina Faso's income inequality is middling (Gini 37.4) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Banfora also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 171 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 28 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were #Pala, Haut Bassin (19 deaths), #Mangodara near the Ivorian border between #Banfora and #Mangodara, near the classified forest of #Koflandé near Linguekoro (15 deaths), Niangoloko area, Comoé (9 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Burkina Faso at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-05-03). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to this country. 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 Burkina Faso
Terrorism in Burkina Faso · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Vehicle crime · Street crime · Criminal kidnapping · Personal ID · Ramadan · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Using cameras and filmmaking · LGBT+ travellers · Souvenirs · Money · Road travel · +2 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Burkina Faso — country-level, not specific to Banfora. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- no data
- Conflict deaths
- 171within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 37.4country, 2021
- Human development
- HDI 0.459country, 2023
- Income
- $2,890/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 173kurban centre · 5,574/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 31.0 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 33/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 42/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 40/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 7.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.51Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 37.3 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.1 doctors /1k0.2 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 354 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Burkina Faso
- Drought
- 5.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 2.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Burkina Faso as a whole, not Banfora specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Burkina Faso (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Burkina Faso; 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 Banfora that gives 51.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Banfora compared with Bobo-Dioulasso
| Measure | Banfora | Bobo-Dioulasso | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 51.6 | 49.2 | +2.4 — better for Banfora |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | no data | no data | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 171 | 291 | −120 — better for Banfora |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Burkina Faso, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Bobo-Dioulasso →
Nearby cities
- Bobo-Dioulasso 49.2
- Sikasso, Mali 53.7
- Ferkéssédougou, Cote d'Ivoire 59.4
- Korhogo, Cote d'Ivoire 78.9
- Koutiala, Mali 54.4
- Koudougou 50.1
- Bouaké, Cote d'Ivoire 78.9
- Ségou, Mali 51.6
See Banfora on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →