Koutiala scores 54 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 4904 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 Koutiala safe?

Mali · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

54.4Moderate · rank 4904 / 6,168
safer than 20% of ranked cities

Koutiala is a city in Mali, home to about 283k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,904 of 6,168, with a safety score of 54.4 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.

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

Sindo town20 deaths · 1 event
Niamana village, Kenedougou province17 deaths · 1 event
between #Sirasso and #Niamberla, #Kenedougou14 deaths · 1 event

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

How safe is Koutiala really?

Neither Koutiala 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.

Koutiala also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 113 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 24 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Sindo town (20 deaths), Niamana village, Kenedougou province (17 deaths), between #Sirasso and #Niamberla, #Kenedougou (14 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 Koutiala. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: no data
Conflict deaths: 113within 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: 283kurban centre · 5,786/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 Koutiala 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%49

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 Koutiala that gives 54.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Koutiala compared with Bobo-Dioulasso

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Koutiala, red favours Bobo-Dioulasso.
Measure	Koutiala	Bobo-Dioulasso	Difference
Safety score	54.4	49.2	+5.2 — better for Koutiala
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	no data	no data	—
Conflict deaths within 100 km	113	291	−178 — better for Koutiala
Income inequality (Gini)	35.7	37.4	−1.7 — better for Koutiala
Human development (HDI)	0.419	0.459	−0.040 — better for Bobo-Dioulasso
Road deaths	22.7 /100k	31.0 /100k	−8.3 /100k — better for Koutiala
Rule of law	38/100	42/100	−4/100 — better for Bobo-Dioulasso
Corruption perceptions	28/100	40/100	−12/100 — better for Bobo-Dioulasso
Air quality (PM2.5)	35.5 µg/m³	37.3 µg/m³	−1.8 µg/m³ — better for Koutiala
Natural-hazard risk	7.3/10	7.3/10	±0.0/10

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 Bobo-Dioulasso →

Nearby cities

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