Is Matadi safe?
DR Congo · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Matadi is a city in DR Congo, home to about 377k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,050 of 6,168, with a safety score of 64.2 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for DR Congo, updated 2026-07-14.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country14 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Areas in Kinshasa Province
- DRC-Central African Republic border
- Eastern DRC
- South-East DRC
- Territory in Mai-Ndombe Province
- Kisangani airport
- The districts of N’djili and Kimbanseke in Kinshasa city south of the main access road to N’djili airport, in Nsele commune
- The N1 road in Kinshasa Province, between and including Menkao to the west, Kenge to the east, the border of Mai-Ndombe province to the north, and 10km to the south
- Haut-Uélé and Ituri, including the entire DRC-South Sudan border
- North Kivu
- South Kivu
- Maniema
- Tanganyika
- Haut-Lomami
Named in the official UK travel advice for DR Congo (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Matadi.
How safe is Matadi really?
Neither Matadi nor DR Congo 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. DR Congo's income inequality is middling (Gini 44.7) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Matadi also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 2 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates DR Congo at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-07-14). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 14 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 DR Congo
Terrorism in DRC · Protests and demonstrations · Traveling around DRC · Street crime and scamming · Criminal kidnap · Vehicle crime · Justice process · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Adopting children from DRC · Camouflage clothing · Money · Road travel · Road conditions · +6 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for DR Congo — country-level, not specific to Matadi. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- no data
- Conflict deaths
- 2within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 44.7country, 2020
- Human development
- HDI 0.522country, 2023
- Income
- $1,850/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 377kurban centre · 10,480/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 34.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 30/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 29/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 20/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 8.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.41Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 35.8 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 12%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.2 doctors /1k0.8 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 322 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in DR Congo
- Flood
- 7.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 4.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 2.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe DR Congo as a whole, not Matadi specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in DR Congo (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in DR Congo; 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 Matadi that gives 64.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Matadi compared with Kinzao
| Measure | Matadi | Kinzao | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 64.2 | 61.1 | +3.1 — better for Matadi |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | no data | no data | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 2 | 5 | −3 — better for Matadi |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in DR Congo, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Kinzao →
Nearby cities
- Kinzao 61.1
- Boma 61.9
- M'banza Congo, Angola 53.8
- Tshela 51.4
- Kimpese 66.0
- Moanda 61.1
- Soyo, Angola 57.6
- Kwilu-Ngongo 66.0
See Matadi on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →