Is Nepalgunj safe?
Nepal · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Nepalgunj is a city in Nepal, home to about 120k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 3,156 of 6,168, with a safety score of 72.2 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency Police 100 · Fire 101 · Ambulance 102
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Nepal are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Nepalgunj really?
No published homicide figure exists for Nepalgunj itself, so the national rate stands in: Nepal recorded 2.1 homicides per 100,000 people in 2020 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Nepal is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 30.0), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.
Nepalgunj also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 1 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 Nepal at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-03-30). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Nepal 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 Nepal
Terrorism in Nepal · Civil disorder · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Sexual assault · Drink spiking · Methanol poisoning · Scams · Personal ID · Visiting holy places · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Wildlife, animal products and souvenirs · Trekking in Nepal · Volunteering and adventure travel · +6 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Nepal — country-level, not specific to Nepalgunj. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 2.1 /100knational rate, 2020
- Conflict deaths
- 1within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 30.0country, 2022
- Human development
- HDI 0.622country, 2023
- Income
- $6,250/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 120kurban centre · 4,996/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 16.3 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 59/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 52/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 34/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.63Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 53.2 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 17%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.0 doctors /1k0.5 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Nepal
- Earthquake
- 9.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 6.9/10EU 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 Nepal as a whole, not Nepalgunj specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Nepal (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Nepal; 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 Nepalgunj that gives 72.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Nepalgunj compared with Bahraich
| Measure | Nepalgunj | Bahraich | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 72.2 | 73.6 | −1.4 — better for Bahraich |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 2.1 /100k | 2.7 /100k | −0.6 /100k — better for Nepalgunj |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 1 | 1 | ±0 |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 30.0 | 25.5 | +4.5 — better for Bahraich |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.622 | 0.685 | −0.063 — better for Bahraich |
| Road deaths | 16.3 /100k | 15.6 /100k | +0.7 /100k — better for Bahraich |
| Rule of law | 52/100 | 56/100 | −4/100 — better for Bahraich |
| Corruption perceptions | 34/100 | 39/100 | −5/100 — better for Bahraich |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 53.2 µg/m³ | 54.1 µg/m³ | −0.9 µg/m³ — better for Nepalgunj |
| Natural-hazard risk | 5.4/10 | 5.2/10 | +0.2/10 — better for Bahraich |
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 Bahraich →
Nearby cities
- Bahraich, India 73.6
- Tulsipur 72.2
- Banjariya 72.2
- Laharpur, India 73.6
- Lakhimpur, India 73.6
- Biswan, India 75.5
- Balrampur, India 75.5
- Colonelganj, India 75.5
See Nepalgunj on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →