Ziguinchor scores 74 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 2963 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Ziguinchor safe?

Senegal · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04

74.0High · rank 2963 / 6,168
safer than 52% of ranked cities

Ziguinchor is a city in Senegal, home to about 283k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 2,963 of 6,168, with a safety score of 74.0 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.

US 1/4 Exercise normal precautions

Emergency Ambulance 15 · Fire 18 · Police 17

Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Senegal 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 Senegal are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Ziguinchor really?

Neither Ziguinchor nor Senegal 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. Senegal's income inequality is middling (Gini 36.2) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Ziguinchor also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 1 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Senegal at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2025-11-30). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Senegal without any avoid-travel warning in force. 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 Senegal

Terrorism in Senegal · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Bogus taxis at the airport · Fake currency · Ramadan · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Money · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Road conditions

Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Senegal — country-level, not specific to Ziguinchor. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: no data
Conflict deaths: 1within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 36.2country, 2021
Human development: HDI 0.530country, 2023
Income: $5,100/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 283kurban centre · 8,568/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 23.5 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 62/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 53/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 46/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 4.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.66Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 41.6 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 27%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.1 doctors /1k0.7 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 37 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Senegal

Flood: 6.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 6.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 3.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Senegal as a whole, not Ziguinchor specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Senegal (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.

All country-level figures shared by every city in Senegal; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%no data

Peace25%92

Equality25%64

Development10%53

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 Ziguinchor that gives 74.0/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Ziguinchor compared with Serrekunda

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Ziguinchor, red favours Serrekunda.
Measure	Ziguinchor	Serrekunda	Difference
Safety score	74.0	71.5	+2.5 — better for Ziguinchor
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	no data	no data	—
Conflict deaths within 100 km	1	1	±0
Income inequality (Gini)	36.2	38.8	−2.6 — better for Ziguinchor
Human development (HDI)	0.530	0.524	+0.006 — better for Ziguinchor
Road deaths	23.5 /100k	29.6 /100k	−6.1 /100k — better for Ziguinchor
Rule of law	53/100	50/100	+3/100 — better for Ziguinchor
Corruption perceptions	46/100	37/100	+9/100 — better for Ziguinchor
Air quality (PM2.5)	41.6 µg/m³	38.3 µg/m³	+3.3 µg/m³ — better for Serrekunda
Natural-hazard risk	4.6/10	4.2/10	+0.4/10 — better for Serrekunda

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 Serrekunda →

Nearby cities

See Ziguinchor on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →