Gao scores 49 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5308 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 Gao safe?

Mali · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

48.9Moderate · rank 5308 / 6,168
safer than 14% of ranked cities

Gao is a city in Mali, home to about 167k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,308 of 6,168, with a safety score of 48.9 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

UK FCDO advises against all travel to this country

Emergency Police 17 · Ambulance 15 · Fire 18

UK FCDO advises against all travel to this countryOfficial UK government travel advice, updated 2026-07-10.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Attolate in the circle of #Ansongo between Nakk and In-Elebag near In Aoutel70 deaths · 1 event
Bourem (in and around)56 deaths · 2 events
Djebok in the region of #Gao Inchawadji 30 km east of Djebok Ahina camp in Anchwadj commune (Gao region).24 deaths · 1 event

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

How safe is Gao really?

Neither Gao nor Mali 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. Mali's income inequality is middling (Gini 35.7) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Gao also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 383 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 59 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Attolate in the circle of #Ansongo between Nakk and In-Elebag near In Aoutel (70 deaths), Bourem (in and around) (56 deaths), Djebok in the region of #Gao Inchawadji 30 km east of Djebok Ahina camp in Anchwadj commune (Gao region). (24 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

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 Mali

Terrorism in Mali · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Personal safety · Criminal kidnapping · Vehicle crime · Personal ID · Ramadan · Using cameras · Commercial disputes · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Road safety · Fuel shortages · +2 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: no data
Conflict deaths: 383within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 35.7country, 2021
Human development: HDI 0.419country, 2023
Income: $3,400/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 167kurban centre · 5,979/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 22.7 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 23/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 38/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 28/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 7.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.48Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 35.5 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 /1k0.3 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 346 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Mali

Flood: 7.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 6.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%no data

Peace25%35

Equality25%65

Development10%42

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 Gao that gives 48.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Gao compared with Niamey

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Gao, red favours Niamey.
Measure	Gao	Niamey	Difference
Safety score	48.9	48.1	+0.8 — better for Gao
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	no data	4.4 /100k	—
Conflict deaths within 100 km	383	571	−188 — better for Gao
Income inequality (Gini)	35.7	32.9	+2.8 — better for Niamey
Human development (HDI)	0.419	0.419	±0.000
Road deaths	22.7 /100k	25.5 /100k	−2.8 /100k — better for Gao
Rule of law	38/100	41/100	−3/100 — better for Niamey
Corruption perceptions	28/100	31/100	−3/100 — better for Niamey
Air quality (PM2.5)	35.5 µg/m³	65.2 µg/m³	−29.7 µg/m³ — better for Gao
Natural-hazard risk	7.3/10	7.8/10	−0.5/10 — better for Gao

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 Niamey →

Nearby cities

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