Is Sullana safe?
Peru · South America · data updated 2026-09-04
Sullana is a city in Peru, home to about 202k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,410 of 6,168, with a safety score of 60.4 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 106 · Fire 116 · Police 105
- UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country4 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Elevated homicide rate8.6 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 3× the global city median.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Within 20km south of the Peru-Colombia border
- Valley of the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers (VRAEM)
- the Amazon River
- the area of the triple border with Brazil and Colombia from and including the towns of Caballococha in Peru up to the actual triple border at Santa Rosa de Yavari town
Named in the official UK travel advice for Peru (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Sullana.
How safe is Sullana really?
No published homicide figure exists for Sullana itself, so the national rate stands in: Peru recorded 8.6 homicides per 100,000 people in 2021 - roughly 3 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Peru's income inequality is middling (Gini 40.1) - 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 Peru at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2025-05-15). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential 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 Peru
Terrorism in Peru · Political situation · Organised crime · Street crime · Protecting your belongings · Fake taxi drivers · Kidnappings and hold-ups · Sexual assault · Methanol poisoning · Money scams · Personal ID · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Military photography · LGBT+ travellers · +11 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Peru — country-level, not specific to Sullana. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 8.6 /100knational rate, 2021 · ~3× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 40.1country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.794country, 2023
- Income
- $17,540/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 202kurban centre · 8,061/km²
- Nearest airport
- 35 kmPAF Captain Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport (PIU)
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 13.6 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 55/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 48/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 30/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 4.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.70Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 31.1 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 49%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.7 doctors /1k1.6 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 3 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Peru
- Earthquake
- 9.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 9.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 6.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Peru as a whole, not Sullana specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Peru (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Peru; 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 Sullana that gives 60.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Sullana compared with Chiclayo
| Measure | Sullana | Chiclayo | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 60.4 | 72.6 | −12.2 — better for Chiclayo |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 8.6 /100k | 1.5 /100k | +7.1 /100k — better for Chiclayo |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Peru, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Chiclayo →
Nearby cities
- Piura 64.5
- Tumbes 48.2
- City of Loja, Ecuador 60.3
- Machala, Ecuador 30.3
- Chiclayo 72.6
- Cuenca, Ecuador 53.8
- Salinas [Santa Elena], Ecuador 33.9
- Guayaquil, Ecuador 27.0
See Sullana on the interactive map → · Safest cities in South America → · Full travel briefings →