Bujumbura scores 43 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5660 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).

Is Bujumbura safe?

Burundi · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

43.2Moderate · rank 5660 / 6,168
safer than 8% of ranked cities

Bujumbura is a city in Burundi, home to about 1.2M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,660 of 6,168, with a safety score of 43.2 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

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

Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)

Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 766 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (188 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Burundi, updated 2025-04-28.
UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country2 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Elevated homicide rate5.65 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 2× the global city median.
Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Burundi as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Buringa area of Bubanza province, near economic capital Bujumbura,60 deaths · 1 event
Lubumba and Nabombi in Uvira territory and Mwenga48 deaths · 1 event
Lubumba, Kitoga and Rubuga in Uvira territory36 deaths · 2 events

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

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Parts of Bujumbura Province
Parts of Butanyerera Province

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

How safe is Bujumbura really?

No published homicide figure exists for Bujumbura itself, so the national rate stands in: Burundi recorded 5.7 homicides per 100,000 people in 2016 - roughly 2 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Burundi's income inequality is middling (Gini 37.5) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 766 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Bujumbura across 188 events in 2022-2024. That is active-conflict territory, and ordinary crime figures say nothing about it. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Buringa area of Bubanza province, near economic capital Bujumbura, (60 deaths), Lubumba and Nabombi in Uvira territory and Mwenga (48 deaths), Lubumba, Kitoga and Rubuga in Uvira territory (36 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Burundi at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2025-04-28). The UK Foreign Office advises against all 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 Burundi

Terrorism in Burundi · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Money · Swimming · Road travel · Road conditions · Roadblocks · Fuel shortages · Public transport · Flooding · Earthquakes

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 5.7 /100knational rate, 2016 · ~2× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 766within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 37.5country, 2020
Human development: HDI 0.439country, 2023
Income: $1,250/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 1.2Murban centre · 8,425/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 35.5 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 42/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 35/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 17/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 6.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.41Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 35.7 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 /1k0.7 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 315 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Burundi

Earthquake: 4.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 3.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 2.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Burundi (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%41

Peace25%28

Equality25%61

Development10%44

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 Bujumbura that gives 43.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Bujumbura compared with Bukavu

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Bujumbura, red favours Bukavu.
Measure	Bujumbura	Bukavu	Difference
Safety score	43.2	41.4	+1.8 — better for Bujumbura
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	5.7 /100k	no data	—
Conflict deaths within 100 km	766	462	+304 — better for Bukavu
Income inequality (Gini)	37.5	44.7	−7.2 — better for Bujumbura
Human development (HDI)	0.439	0.522	−0.083 — better for Bukavu
Road deaths	35.5 /100k	34.9 /100k	+0.6 /100k — better for Bukavu
Rule of law	35/100	29/100	+6/100 — better for Bujumbura
Corruption perceptions	17/100	20/100	−3/100 — better for Bukavu
Air quality (PM2.5)	35.7 µg/m³	35.8 µg/m³	−0.1 µg/m³ — better for Bujumbura
Natural-hazard risk	6.5/10	8.0/10	−1.5/10 — better for Bujumbura

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 Bukavu →

Nearby cities

See Bujumbura on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →