Is Riobamba safe?
Ecuador · South America · data updated 2026-09-04
Riobamba is a city in Ecuador, home to about 186k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,790 of 6,168, with a safety score of 55.8 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency 911 (ambulance, fire, police)
- UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country13 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- High income inequalityGini 45.9 puts Ecuador 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).
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- Cantón Latacunga16 deaths · 1 event
- Las Naves canton5 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Riobamba, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Coastal Region
- Within 20km of the Ecuador-Colombia border
- Esmeraldas
- Manabí
- Santa Elena
- Guayas
- El Oro
- Los Ríos
- Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas
- El Ángel Ecological Reserve
- Rumichaca border crossing
- the town of Tulcán
- the Pan-American Highway
Named in the official UK travel advice for Ecuador (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Riobamba.
How safe is Riobamba really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Riobamba recorded 2.9 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2024 - close to the global city median. That matters because income inequality is the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset, and Ecuador's Gini of 45.9 puts it in the most unequal quarter of countries - conditions under which street crime and robbery tend to be a real concern.
Riobamba also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 25 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 25 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Cantón Latacunga (16 deaths), Las Naves canton (5 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Ecuador at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2025-10-13). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country, naming 13 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 Ecuador
Terrorism in Ecuador · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Violent crime and armed robbery · ATM and bank customer robbery · Transport robbery · Sexual assault · Criminal kidnap · Drug-assisted robbery · Methanol poisoning · Personal ID · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · ‘Spiritual cleansing’ hallucinogens · LGBT+ travellers · +19 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Ecuador — country-level, not specific to Riobamba. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 2.9 /100kcity-measured, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 25within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 45.9country, 2025
- Human development
- HDI 0.777country, 2023
- Income
- $16,290/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 186kurban centre · 5,156/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 20.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 54/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 40/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 33/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.61Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 18.6 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 70%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.3 doctors /1k1.3 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Ecuador
- Earthquake
- 9.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 9.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 6.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Ecuador as a whole, not Riobamba specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Ecuador (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Ecuador; 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 Riobamba that gives 55.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Riobamba compared with Guayaquil
| Measure | Riobamba | Guayaquil | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 55.8 | 27.0 | +28.8 — better for Riobamba |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 2.9 /100k | 66 /100k | −63 /100k — better for Riobamba |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 25 | 419 | −394 — better for Riobamba |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Ecuador, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Guayaquil →
Nearby cities
See Riobamba on the interactive map → · Safest cities in South America → · Full travel briefings →