Is Sabha safe?
Libya · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Sabha is a city in Libya, home to about 123k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. For Sabha there is not enough published data for an honest score - fewer than half of the ranking's factors are measured here, so it is listed as "no data" rather than guessed at.
Emergency 1415 (ambulance, fire, police)
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Libya, updated 2025-07-15.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country4 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Libya as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Tripoli
- Benghazi, Al-Bayda and Derna, and the surrounding area known as Jebel Akhdar, either side of the coastal and desert roads between and including the towns of Al-Maqrun and Al-Tamimi
- Misrata
- Benghazi, Al-Bayda and Derna, and the surrounding area knows as Jebel Akhdar, either side of the coastal and desert roads between and including the towns of Al-Maqrun and Al-Tamimi
Named in the official UK travel advice for Libya (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Sabha.
How safe is Sabha really?
Neither Sabha nor Libya 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.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Libya at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2025-07-15). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 4 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 Libya
Terrorism in Libya · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Public infrastructure and services · Protecting your belongings · Detention · Personal ID · Ramadan · Religion · Alcohol and drugs laws · Methanol poisoning · Business travel in Libya · Journalism in Libya · Using cameras near military facilities · +4 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Libya — country-level, not specific to Sabha. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- no data
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- no datacountry,
- Human development
- HDI 0.721country, 2023
- Income
- $17,150/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 123kurban centre · 3,740/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 21.3 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 33/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 28/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 13/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.61Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 20.0 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.0 doctors /1k3.5 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Libya
- Tsunami
- 5.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 5.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 1.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Libya as a whole, not Sabha specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Libya (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Libya; 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. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Sabha compared with Gabes
| Measure | Sabha | Gabes | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | no data | 67.7 | — |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | no data | 4.7 /100k | — |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
| Income inequality (Gini) | no data | 33.7 | — |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.721 | 0.746 | −0.025 — better for Gabes |
| Road deaths | 21.3 /100k | 16.5 /100k | +4.8 /100k — better for Gabes |
| Rule of law | 28/100 | 51/100 | −23/100 — better for Gabes |
| Corruption perceptions | 13/100 | 39/100 | −26/100 — better for Gabes |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 20.0 µg/m³ | 18.9 µg/m³ | +1.1 µg/m³ — better for Gabes |
| Natural-hazard risk | 5.5/10 | 3.4/10 | +2.1/10 — better for Gabes |
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 Gabes →
Nearby cities
- Misrata n/a
- Qabilat alturki n/a
- Tripoli n/a
- Sayyad n/a
- Al Zawiyah n/a
- Benghazi n/a
- Marj n/a
- Gabes, Tunisia 67.7
See Sabha on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →