Is Muyinga safe?
Burundi · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Muyinga is a city in Burundi, home to about 115k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,136 of 6,168, with a safety score of 50.8 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)
- US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Burundi, updated 2025-04-28.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country2 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Elevated homicide rate5.65 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 2× the global city median.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Burundi as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Parts of Bujumbura Province
- Parts of Butanyerera Province
Named in the official UK travel advice for Burundi (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Muyinga.
How safe is Muyinga really?
No published homicide figure exists for Muyinga itself, so the national rate stands in: Burundi recorded 5.7 homicides per 100,000 people in 2016 - roughly 2 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Burundi's income inequality is middling (Gini 37.5) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Muyinga also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 46 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 44 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Burundi at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2025-04-28). The UK Foreign Office advises against all 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 Burundi
Terrorism in Burundi · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Money · Swimming · Road travel · Road conditions · Roadblocks · Fuel shortages · Public transport · Flooding · Earthquakes
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Burundi — country-level, not specific to Muyinga. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 5.7 /100knational rate, 2016 · ~2× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 46within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 37.5country, 2020
- Human development
- HDI 0.439country, 2023
- Income
- $1,250/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 115kurban centre · 7,182/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 35.5 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 42/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 35/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 17/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 6.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.41Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 35.7 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 /1k0.7 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 315 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Burundi
- Earthquake
- 4.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 2.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Burundi as a whole, not Muyinga specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Burundi (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Burundi; 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 Muyinga that gives 50.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Muyinga compared with Kigali
| Measure | Muyinga | Kigali | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 50.8 | 47.7 | +3.1 — better for Muyinga |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 5.7 /100k | 3.6 /100k | +2.0 /100k — better for Kigali |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 46 | 533 | −487 — better for Muyinga |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 37.5 | 39.4 | −1.9 — better for Muyinga |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.439 | 0.578 | −0.139 — better for Kigali |
| Road deaths | 35.5 /100k | 29.4 /100k | +6.1 /100k — better for Kigali |
| Rule of law | 35/100 | 59/100 | −24/100 — better for Kigali |
| Corruption perceptions | 17/100 | 58/100 | −41/100 — better for Kigali |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 35.7 µg/m³ | 36.0 µg/m³ | −0.3 µg/m³ — better for Muyinga |
| Natural-hazard risk | 6.5/10 | 5.4/10 | +1.1/10 — better for Kigali |
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 Kigali →
Nearby cities
- Ngozi 45.5
- Kayanza 45.1
- Gitega 45.8
- Kigali, Rwanda 47.7
- Bujumbura 43.2
- Uvira, DR Congo 39.0
- Mumigunga, Tanzania 55.7
- Rumonge 43.7
See Muyinga on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →