Damascus scores 53 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5035 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 Damascus safe?

Syria · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

52.8Moderate · rank 5035 / 6,168
safer than 18% of ranked cities

Damascus is a city in Syria, home to about 4.3M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,035 of 6,168, with a safety score of 52.8 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.

US 4/4 Do not travel UK FCDO advises against all travel to this country

Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 4,733 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (1,448 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Syria, updated 2025-12-10.
UK FCDO advises against all travel to this countryOfficial UK government travel advice, updated 2026-09-02.
Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Syria as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Ain al-Delb73 deaths · 1 event
Al-Jamous building in the southern suburb of Beirut51 deaths · 1 event
Beirut38 deaths · 8 events

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

How safe is Damascus really?

No published homicide figure exists for Damascus itself, so the national rate stands in: Syria recorded 2.1 homicides per 100,000 people in 2010 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Syria is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 26.4), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.

Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 4,733 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Damascus across 1,448 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 Ain al-Delb (73 deaths), Al-Jamous building in the southern suburb of Beirut (51 deaths), Beirut (38 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Syria at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2025-12-10). 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 Syria

Terrorism in Syria · Examples of previous significant attacks include: · Terrorist kidnap · Security situation · Political activity · Journalists in Syria · Unexploded Weapons · Basic services · Sanctions · Criminal kidnapping · Religion · Personal ID · Illegal drugs penalties · Money · +4 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 2.1 /100knational rate, 2010
Conflict deaths: 4,733within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 26.4country, 2022
Human development: HDI 0.564country, 2023
Income: $4,740/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 4.3Murban centre · 11,589/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 14.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 25/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 26/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 15/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 7.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.36Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 32.1 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 1.5 doctors /1k1.4 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Syria

Drought: 8.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 7.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 6.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 2.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%59

Peace25%8

Equality25%86

Development10%56

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 Damascus that gives 52.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Damascus compared with Beirut

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Damascus, red favours Beirut.
Measure	Damascus	Beirut	Difference
Safety score	52.8	47.8	+4.9 — better for Damascus
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	2.1 /100k	2.6 /100k	−0.6 /100k — better for Damascus
Conflict deaths within 100 km	4,733	4,782	−49 — better for Damascus
Income inequality (Gini)	26.4	35.5	−9.1 — better for Damascus
Human development (HDI)	0.564	0.752	−0.188 — better for Beirut
Road deaths	14.9 /100k	16.4 /100k	−1.5 /100k — better for Damascus
Rule of law	26/100	38/100	−12/100 — better for Beirut
Corruption perceptions	15/100	23/100	−8/100 — better for Beirut
Air quality (PM2.5)	32.1 µg/m³	26.7 µg/m³	+5.4 µg/m³ — better for Beirut
Natural-hazard risk	7.6/10	6.4/10	+1.2/10 — better for Beirut

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 Beirut →

Nearby cities

See Damascus on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →