Is Shihr safe?
Yemen · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Shihr is a city in Yemen, home to about 128k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,296 of 6,168, with a safety score of 61.8 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency Ambulance 191 · Fire 191 · Police 199 or 194
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Yemen, updated 2025-12-18.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to this countryOfficial UK government travel advice, updated 2026-07-31.
- Elevated homicide rate5.81 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 2× the global city median.
- Same-sex activity criminalized - death penalty in lawLaw on the books in Yemen as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Yemen are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Shihr really?
No published homicide figure exists for Shihr itself, so the national rate stands in: Yemen recorded 5.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2013 - roughly 2 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Yemen's income inequality is middling (Gini 36.7) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Yemen at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2025-12-18). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to this country. 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 Yemen
Terrorism in Yemen · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Crime · Ramadan · Dress code · Alcohol laws · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Antiquities · Road travel · Driving conditions · Air travel · Sea travel · +2 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Yemen — country-level, not specific to Shihr. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 5.8 /100knational rate, 2013 · ~2× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 36.7country, 2014
- Human development
- HDI 0.470country, 2023
- Income
- $3,020/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 128kurban centre · 8,021/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 29.4 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 19/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 24/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 13/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 7.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.32Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 46.8 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 /1k0.5 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 52 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Yemen
- Flood
- 5.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 4.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 3.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 3.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 1.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Yemen as a whole, not Shihr specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Yemen, 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 Yemen; 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 Shihr that gives 61.8/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Shihr compared with Mukalla
| Measure | Shihr | Mukalla | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 61.8 | 61.8 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 5.8 /100k | 5.8 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Yemen, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Mukalla →
Nearby cities
- Mukalla 61.8
- Fuwwah 61.8
- Say'un 58.8
- Tarim 58.8
- Bosaso, Somalia n/a
- Madinat Lab'ūs 43.9
- Ja`ar 44.2
- Rada` 43.0
See Shihr on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →