Massawa scores 53 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5043 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 Massawa safe?

Eritrea · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

52.6Moderate · rank 5043 / 6,168
safer than 18% of ranked cities

Massawa is a city in Eritrea, home to about 355k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,043 of 6,168, with a safety score of 52.6 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country

Emergency Ambulance 122244 · Fire 116 · Police 113

UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Elevated homicide rate15.61 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 6× the global city median.
Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Eritrea as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Within 25km of Eritrea’s land borders

Named in the official UK travel advice for Eritrea (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Massawa.

How safe is Massawa really?

No published homicide figure exists for Massawa itself, so the national rate stands in: Eritrea recorded 16 homicides per 100,000 people in 2012 - roughly 6 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Eritrea at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2023-07-30). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 1 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 Eritrea

Terrorism in Eritrea · Military activity in the Red Sea area · Local security measures · Armed civilians · Travel permits · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Personal ID · Internet and phone access · Photography · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Road conditions · Air travel · Sea travel · +1 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 16 /100knational rate, 2012 · ~6× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: no datacountry,
Human development: HDI 0.503country, 2023
Income: $1,720/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 355kurban centre · 10,431/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 37.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 54/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 26/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 13/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 4.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: no dataGeorgetown WPS Index · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 33.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.1 doctors /1k1.0 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 102 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Eritrea

Drought: 5.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 3.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 1.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%24

Peace25%100

Equality25%no data

Development10%50

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 Massawa that gives 52.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Massawa compared with Ghinda

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Massawa, red favours Ghinda.
Measure	Massawa	Ghinda	Difference
Safety score	52.6	52.6	±0.0
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	16 /100k	16 /100k	±0.0 /100k
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Eritrea, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Ghinda →

Nearby cities

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