Libreville scores 79 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 1994 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 Libreville safe?

Gabon · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

78.9High · rank 1994 / 6,168
safer than 68% of ranked cities

Libreville is a city in Gabon, home to about 921k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,994 of 6,168, with a safety score of 78.9 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

Emergency Fire 177 · Police 177

No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Gabon are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Libreville really?

Neither Libreville nor Gabon 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. Gabon's income inequality is middling (Gini 38.0) - 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 Gabon at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-03-29). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Gabon without any avoid-travel warning in force. 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 Gabon

Terrorism in Gabon · Detention of tourists · Protests · Taxis · Carjacking · Money and credit card fraud · Personal ID · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Driving conditions in Gabon · Air travel · Sea travel

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: no data
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 38.0country, 2017
Human development: HDI 0.733country, 2023
Income: $21,660/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 921kurban centre · 5,264/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 23.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 61/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 37/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 29/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 3.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.68Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 31.3 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.5 doctors /1k2.0 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 187 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Gabon

Flood: 5.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%no data

Peace25%100

Equality25%60

Development10%73

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 Libreville that gives 78.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Libreville compared with Bata

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Libreville, red favours Bata.
Measure	Libreville	Bata	Difference
Safety score	78.9	77.4	+1.4 — better for Libreville
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	no data	no data	—
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0
Income inequality (Gini)	38.0	38.5	−0.5 — better for Libreville
Human development (HDI)	0.733	0.674	+0.059 — better for Libreville
Road deaths	23.9 /100k	27.2 /100k	−3.3 /100k — better for Libreville
Rule of law	37/100	30/100	+7/100 — better for Libreville
Corruption perceptions	29/100	15/100	+14/100 — better for Libreville
Air quality (PM2.5)	31.3 µg/m³	42.2 µg/m³	−10.9 µg/m³ — better for Libreville
Natural-hazard risk	3.5/10	3.5/10	±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 Bata →

Nearby cities

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