Is Tawau safe?
Malaysia · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Tawau is a city in Malaysia, home to about 376k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,843 of 6,168, with a safety score of 80.3 out of 100, which puts it in the top band of the ranking.
Emergency Police and ambulance 999 · Fire 994
- UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Malaysia as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Eastern Sabah coastal islands
Named in the official UK travel advice for Malaysia (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Tawau.
How safe is Tawau really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Tawau recorded 0.5 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2018 - well below the global city median. Malaysia's income inequality is middling (Gini 40.7) - 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 Malaysia at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-02-21). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country, naming 1 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 Malaysia
Terrorism in Malaysia · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Personal security · Drink spiking · Methanol poisoning · Police reports · Personal ID · Dress code · Ramadan · Illegal drugs penalties · LGBT+ travellers · Watersports and scuba diving · +4 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Malaysia — country-level, not specific to Tawau. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 0.5 /100kcity-measured, 2018
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 40.7country, 2021
- Human development
- HDI 0.819country, 2023
- Income
- $40,070/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 376kurban centre · 5,523/km²
- Nearest airport
- 26 kmTawau Airport (TWU)
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 22.5 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 72/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 63/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 52/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 3.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.74Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 15.9 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 95%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.3 doctors /1k2.0 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Malaysia
- Flood
- 6.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 5.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 1.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Malaysia as a whole, not Tawau specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Malaysia (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Malaysia; 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 Tawau that gives 80.3/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Tawau compared with Kota Kinabalu
| Measure | Tawau | Kota Kinabalu | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 80.3 | 74.1 | +6.1 — better for Tawau |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 0.5 /100k | 1.2 /100k | −0.7 /100k — better for Tawau |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Malaysia, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Kota Kinabalu →
Nearby cities
- Lahad Datu 78.0
- Gunung Lingkas, Indonesia 84.2
- Sandakan 86.7
- Tanjung Redeb, Indonesia 84.2
- Kota Kinabalu 74.1
- Sangatta Utara, Indonesia 84.2
- Kampong Pulau Melayu 75.4
- Bontang, Indonesia 84.2
See Tawau on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →