Is Kutaisi safe?
Georgia · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Kutaisi is a city in Georgia, home to about 137k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 2,849 of 6,168, with a safety score of 74.5 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country3 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- South Ossetia and Abkhazia
- South Ossetia
- Abkhazia
Named in the official UK travel advice for Georgia (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Kutaisi.
How safe is Kutaisi really?
No published homicide figure exists for Kutaisi itself, so the national rate stands in: Georgia recorded 2.0 homicides per 100,000 people in 2019 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Georgia's income inequality is middling (Gini 33.9) - 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 Georgia at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2025-03-12). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 3 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 Georgia
Terrorism in Georgia · Political situation · Drink spiking · Personal ID · Dress codes and behaviour in public · Money · Illegal drugs · Using cameras · Using Drones · LGBT+ travellers · Surrogacy · Trade with South Ossetia and Abkhazia · Outdoor activities and adventure tourism · Taxis · +5 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Georgia — country-level, not specific to Kutaisi. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 2.0 /100knational rate, 2019
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 33.9country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.844country, 2023
- Income
- $27,570/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 137kurban centre · 6,868/km²
- Nearest airport
- 20 kmDavid the Builder Kutaisi International Airport (KUT) · also BUS, 116 km
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 12.4 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 55/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 60/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 50/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 3.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.80Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 18.6 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 71%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 5.6 doctors /1k4.0 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Georgia
- Earthquake
- 7.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 6.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 5.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Georgia as a whole, not Kutaisi specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Georgia (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Georgia; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
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 Kutaisi that gives 74.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Kutaisi compared with Tbilisi
| Measure | Kutaisi | Tbilisi | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 74.5 | 74.3 | +0.2 — better for Kutaisi |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 2.0 /100k | 1.6 /100k | +0.4 /100k — better for Tbilisi |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 1 | −1 — better for Kutaisi |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Georgia, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Tbilisi →
Nearby cities
- Batumi 72.6
- Nalchik, Russia 59.4
- Vladikavkaz, Russia 54.5
- Kislovodsk, Russia 61.6
- Tbilisi 74.3
- Yessentuki, Russia 61.6
- Pyatigorsk, Russia 61.6
- Nazran, Russia 54.6
See Kutaisi on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →