Is Kutum safe?
Sudan · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Kutum is a city in Sudan, home to about 162k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,650 of 6,168, with a safety score of 43.4 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency 999 (ambulance, fire, police)
- Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 2,472 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (250 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Sudan, updated 2026-05-14.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country2 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Sudan as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- El Fasher305 deaths · 32 events
- eastern and south-eastern neighbourhoods in Al Fasher town159 deaths · 2 events
- El Fasher,112 deaths · 5 events
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Kutum, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Get help in Sudan
- Leaving Sudan
Named in the official UK travel advice for Sudan (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Kutum.
How safe is Kutum really?
Neither Kutum nor Sudan 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. Sudan's income inequality is middling (Gini 34.2) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 2,472 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Kutum across 250 events in 2022-2024. That is active-conflict territory, and ordinary crime figures say nothing about it. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were El Fasher (305 deaths), eastern and south-eastern neighbourhoods in Al Fasher town (159 deaths), El Fasher, (112 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Sudan at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-05-14). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 2 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 Sudan
Terrorism in Sudan · Red Sea military activity · Security situation · Criminal kidnap · Mobile phone and internet access · Personal ID · Dress code · Ramadan · Alcohol and drug laws · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Relationships outside marriage · Guests in hotel rooms · Technical equipment · +6 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Sudan — country-level, not specific to Kutum. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- no data
- Conflict deaths
- 2,472within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 34.2country, 2014
- Human development
- HDI 0.511country, 2023
- Income
- $2,140/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 162kurban centre · 8,538/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 26.8 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 31/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 26/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 14/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 7.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.40Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 37.6 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.3 doctors /1k0.7 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 98 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Sudan
- Flood
- 8.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 5.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Sudan as a whole, not Kutum specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Sudan (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Sudan; 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 Kutum that gives 43.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Kutum compared with Kebkabiya
| Measure | Kutum | Kebkabiya | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 43.4 | 50.4 | −7.0 — better for Kebkabiya |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | no data | no data | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 2,472 | 523 | +1,949 — better for Kebkabiya |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Sudan, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Kebkabiya →
Nearby cities
- Kebkabiya 50.4
- Mellit 43.5
- Al-Fashir 43.5
- El Sireaf 47.1
- Saraf `Umrah 41.0
- Kas 46.7
- Khazan Gedid 58.0
- Tiné-Djagaraba, Chad 47.7
See Kutum on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →