Douala scores 45 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5533 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 Douala safe?

Cameroon · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

45.1Moderate · rank 5533 / 6,168
safer than 10% of ranked cities

Douala is a city in Cameroon, home to about 4.1M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,533 of 6,168, with a safety score of 45.1 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

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

Emergency Ambulance 112 · Fire 119 · Police 117

UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country13 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Elevated homicide rate6.76 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 2× the global city median.
Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Cameroon as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Mbonge town (SW) /// Bombanda village9 deaths · 1 event
Mbanga-Bakundu8 deaths · 1 event
on the highway between Ekondo-Titi and Bekora in Southwest Region /// in Bekora village in the Ekondo Titi district7 deaths · 1 event

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

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Bakassi Peninsula
Cameroon-Central African Republic border
Cameroon-Chad border
Cameroon-Nigeria border
Far-North Region
North-West Region
South-West Region
Limbé
North Region, Adamawa Region and Maroua
Adamawa Region
a 20km radius to the north, east and west of Maroua
30km south of Maroua
the 35km stretch of the N3 road connecting Limbé to the Littoral Region in Fako Division

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

How safe is Douala really?

No published homicide figure exists for Douala itself, so the national rate stands in: Cameroon recorded 6.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2022 - roughly 2 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Cameroon's income inequality is middling (Gini 42.2) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Douala also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 159 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 67 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Mbonge town (SW) /// Bombanda village (9 deaths), Mbanga-Bakundu (8 deaths), on the highway between Ekondo-Titi and Bekora in Southwest Region /// in Bekora village in the Ekondo Titi district (7 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Cameroon at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-05-14). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 13 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 Cameroon

Terrorism in Cameroon · Bomb attacks · Armed robbery · Burglary and petty theft · Unofficial taxis · Violent crime near borders and roads · Criminal kidnapping · Adoption scams · Personal ID · Camouflage clothing · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Wildlife, animal products and souvenirs · +5 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 6.8 /100knational rate, 2022 · ~2× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 159within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 42.2country, 2021
Human development: HDI 0.588country, 2023
Income: $5,700/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 4.1Murban centre · 14,402/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 30.2 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 39/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 35/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 26/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 6.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.45Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 55.6 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 /1k2.7 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 261 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Cameroon

Flood: 6.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 3.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%38

Peace25%45

Equality25%51

Development10%59

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 Douala that gives 45.1/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Douala compared with Malabo

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Douala, red favours Malabo.
Measure	Douala	Malabo	Difference
Safety score	45.1	58.2	−13.1 — better for Malabo
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	6.8 /100k	no data	—
Conflict deaths within 100 km	159	69	+90 — better for Malabo
Income inequality (Gini)	42.2	38.5	+3.7 — better for Malabo
Human development (HDI)	0.588	0.674	−0.086 — better for Malabo
Road deaths	30.2 /100k	27.2 /100k	+3.0 /100k — better for Malabo
Rule of law	35/100	30/100	+5/100 — better for Douala
Corruption perceptions	26/100	15/100	+11/100 — better for Douala
Air quality (PM2.5)	55.6 µg/m³	42.2 µg/m³	+13.4 µg/m³ — better for Malabo
Natural-hazard risk	6.7/10	3.5/10	+3.2/10 — better for Malabo

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 Malabo →

Nearby cities

Tiko 45.0
Edéa 51.5
Buea 44.9
Limbe 45.1
Kumba 44.8
Nkongsamba 44.6
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea 58.2
Kribi 58.9

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