Is Shakar Garh safe?
Pakistan · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Shakar Garh is a city in Pakistan, home to about 255k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,741 of 6,168, with a safety score of 56.5 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency 1122 (ambulance, fire) · Police 15
- US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Pakistan, updated 2026-03-02.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country35 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalized - death penalty in lawLaw on the books in Pakistan as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- on the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar Road near Badnota village in Lohai Malhar Tehsil in Kathua District in Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir5 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Shakar Garh, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Pakistan-Afghanistan border
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province
- Balochistan Province
- Pakistan-India Border Area
- Pakistan-administered Kashmir
- Sindh Province
- Punjab Province
- Bajaur
- Bannu
- Buner
- Chārsadda
- Dera Ismail Khan
- Hangu
- Karak
- Khyber
- Kohat
- Kurram
- Lakki Marwat
- Upper Dir
- Lower Dir
- Mohmand
- Orakzai
- Peshawar, including the city of Peshawar
- Swat
- Tank
- North Waziristan
- Upper South Waziristan
- Lower South Waziristan
- the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas via Battagram, Besham City, Dasu and Sazin up to the junction with the N15
- the N45 Highway, from the north of the Mardan ring road, to the edge of Chitral City, including Kalash valley
- Malakand
- Mardan
- Nowshera
- Shangla
- Swabi
Named in the official UK travel advice for Pakistan (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Shakar Garh.
How safe is Shakar Garh really?
No published homicide figure exists for Shakar Garh itself, so the national rate stands in: Pakistan recorded 4.3 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Pakistan's income inequality is middling (Gini 33.5) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Shakar Garh also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 37 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 23 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were on the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar Road near Badnota village in Lohai Malhar Tehsil in Kathua District in Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir (5 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Pakistan at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-03-02). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 35 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 Pakistan
Terrorism in Pakistan · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Criminal kidnap · Personal ID · Ramadan · Dress code · Blasphemy · Death penalty · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and penalties · Taking photos in secure areas · Property disputes · +13 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Pakistan — country-level, not specific to Shakar Garh. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 4.3 /100knational rate, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 37within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 33.5country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.544country, 2023
- Income
- $6,430/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 255kurban centre · 12,126/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 13.0 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 31/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 39/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 28/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 6.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.46Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 58.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 45%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.2 doctors /1k0.6 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 13 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Pakistan
- Flood
- 9.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 9.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 7.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 6.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 4.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Pakistan as a whole, not Shakar Garh specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Pakistan, with the death penalty applying in law (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Pakistan; 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 Shakar Garh that gives 56.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Shakar Garh compared with Jammu
| Measure | Shakar Garh | Jammu | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 56.5 | 62.7 | −6.2 — better for Jammu |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 4.3 /100k | 2.7 /100k | +1.6 /100k — better for Jammu |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 37 | 112 | −75 — better for Shakar Garh |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 33.5 | 25.5 | +8.0 — better for Jammu |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.544 | 0.685 | −0.141 — better for Jammu |
| Road deaths | 13.0 /100k | 15.6 /100k | −2.6 /100k — better for Shakar Garh |
| Rule of law | 39/100 | 56/100 | −17/100 — better for Jammu |
| Corruption perceptions | 28/100 | 39/100 | −11/100 — better for Jammu |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 58.4 µg/m³ | 54.1 µg/m³ | +4.3 µg/m³ — better for Jammu |
| Natural-hazard risk | 6.6/10 | 5.2/10 | +1.4/10 — better for Jammu |
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 Jammu →
Nearby cities
- Narowal 56.0
- Gurdaspur, India 66.1
- Kathua, India 65.2
- Pathankot, India 65.9
- Pasrur 54.8
- Batala, India 66.2
- R S Pura, India 63.3
- Jammu, India 62.7
See Shakar Garh on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →