Djibouti scores 72 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 3167 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 Djibouti safe?

Djibouti · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

71.9High · rank 3167 / 6,168
safer than 49% of ranked cities

Djibouti is a city in Djibouti, home to about 738k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 3,167 of 6,168, with a safety score of 71.9 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country

Emergency Ambulance 21 35 09 62 or 21 35 27 12 · Fire 18 · Police 17

UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Djibouti-Eritrea border

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

How safe is Djibouti really?

Neither Djibouti nor Djibouti 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. Djibouti's income inequality is middling (Gini 41.6) - 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 Djibouti at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2025-03-05). The UK Foreign Office advises against all 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 Djibouti

Terrorism in Djibouti · Protecting your belongings · Ramadan · Money · Alcohol laws · Using cameras · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Driving standards · Air travel · Sea travel · Flooding · Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: no data
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 41.6country, 2017
Human development: HDI 0.513country, 2023
Income: $8,660/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 738kurban centre · 9,587/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 23.5 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 56/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 40/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 31/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 5.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.56Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 40.3 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.2 doctors /1k1.4 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 45 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Djibouti

Drought: 7.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 5.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 5.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%no data

Peace25%100

Equality25%52

Development10%51

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 Djibouti that gives 71.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Djibouti compared with Ta'izz

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Djibouti, red favours Ta'izz.
Measure	Djibouti	Ta'izz	Difference
Safety score	71.9	42.9	+28.9 — better for Djibouti
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	no data	5.8 /100k	—
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	1,039	−1,039 — better for Djibouti
Income inequality (Gini)	41.6	36.7	+4.9 — better for Ta'izz
Human development (HDI)	0.513	0.470	+0.043 — better for Djibouti
Road deaths	23.5 /100k	29.4 /100k	−5.9 /100k — better for Djibouti
Rule of law	40/100	24/100	+16/100 — better for Djibouti
Corruption perceptions	31/100	13/100	+18/100 — better for Djibouti
Air quality (PM2.5)	40.3 µg/m³	46.8 µg/m³	−6.5 µg/m³ — better for Djibouti
Natural-hazard risk	5.2/10	7.7/10	−2.5/10 — better for Djibouti

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 Ta'izz →

Nearby cities

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