Is Matala safe?
Angola · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Matala is a city in Angola, home to about 294k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,637 of 6,168, with a safety score of 57.6 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 112 · Fire 118 · Police 110
- UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country2 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- High income inequalityGini 51.3 puts Angola in the most unequal quarter of countries - the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset (street crime and robbery tend to track it).
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Cabinda Province, except Cabinda city
- Border areas in Lunda Norte Province
Named in the official UK travel advice for Angola (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Matala.
How safe is Matala really?
No published homicide figure exists for Matala itself, so the national rate stands in: Angola recorded 4.1 homicides per 100,000 people in 2016 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. That matters because income inequality is the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset, and Angola's Gini of 51.3 puts it in the most unequal quarter of countries - conditions under which street crime and robbery tend to be a real concern.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Angola at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2024-09-22). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential 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 Angola
Terrorism in Angola · Protests and demonstrations · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Vehicle crime · Sexual assault · Personal ID · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Using cameras and binoculars in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Wildlife, animal products and souvenirs · Road travel · Road conditions and landmines · Taxis and minibuses · Air travel · +1 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Angola — country-level, not specific to Matala. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 4.1 /100knational rate, 2016
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 51.3country, 2018
- Human development
- HDI 0.616country, 2023
- Income
- $9,840/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 294kurban centre · 7,541/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 26.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 56/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 37/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 32/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 6.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.60Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 19.9 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.2 doctors /1k0.8 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 259 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Angola
- Flood
- 3.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Angola as a whole, not Matala specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Angola (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Angola; 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 Matala that gives 57.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Matala compared with Lubango
| Measure | Matala | Lubango | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 57.6 | 57.6 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 4.1 /100k | 4.1 /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 Angola, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Lubango →
Nearby cities
See Matala on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →