Malé scores 85 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 240 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 Malé safe?

Maldives · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

84.6Very high · rank 240 / 6,168
safer than 96% of ranked cities

Malé is a city in Maldives, home to about 236k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 240 of 6,168, with a safety score of 84.6 out of 100, which puts it in the top band of the ranking.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

Emergency Ambulance 102 · Fire 118 · Police 119

Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Maldives as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

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

How safe is Malé really?

No published homicide figure exists for Malé itself, so the national rate stands in: Maldives recorded 0.6 homicides per 100,000 people in 2019 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Maldives is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 29.3), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Maldives at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2025-10-06). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Maldives 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 Maldives

Terrorism in Maldives · Political situation · Crime · Ramadan · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs penalties · Wildlife, animal products and souvenirs · LGBT+ travellers · Local dress standards · Swimming safety · Scuba diving · Road travel · Sea travel · Flooding

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 0.6 /100knational rate, 2019
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 29.3country, 2019
Human development: HDI 0.766country, 2023
Income: $25,600/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 236kurban centre · 14,755/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 1.6 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 65/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 58/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 39/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 2.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.70Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 11.2 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 2.2 doctors /1k4.6 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Maldives

Tsunami: 9.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Maldives (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%80

Peace25%100

Equality25%79

Development10%77

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 Malé that gives 84.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Malé compared with Colachel

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Malé, red favours Colachel.
Measure	Malé	Colachel	Difference
Safety score	84.6	75.5	+9.1 — better for Malé
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	0.6 /100k	2.7 /100k	−2.1 /100k — better for Malé
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0
Income inequality (Gini)	29.3	25.5	+3.8 — better for Colachel
Human development (HDI)	0.766	0.685	+0.081 — better for Malé
Road deaths	1.6 /100k	15.6 /100k	−14.0 /100k — better for Malé
Rule of law	58/100	56/100	+2/100 — better for Malé
Corruption perceptions	39/100	39/100	±0/100
Air quality (PM2.5)	11.2 µg/m³	54.1 µg/m³	−42.9 µg/m³ — better for Malé
Natural-hazard risk	2.2/10	5.2/10	−3.0/10 — better for Malé

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 Colachel →

Nearby cities

See Malé on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →