🇨🇲 Republic of Cameroon (Cameroun)
Visiting: Dangerous
Serious risks come with any visit to Cameroon. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Beyond that, road deaths are moderate, ranking 74th, though violent crime is common, at 127th. Where it lags is women's safety, which is among the very worst, placed 180th, and freedom is close to absent, ranking 169th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Cameroon: 6.8
Ranked 54th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Nearly seven killings per 100,000 people a year is above the world average, which is where the risky tier begins.
Is it safe to visit?
Take it seriously. 1,868 killings in Cameroon's 2022 count, above the world average.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Cameroon: 10.6
Ranked 74th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Eleven deaths per 100,000 people a year is under the world average of fifteen but past half of it.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Below the world average, which for the region is a decent showing.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Cameroon: 3.05
Ranked 29th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
427 people died in fighting inside Cameroon in the year to July 2026, 183 of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe in the far north, where Boko Haram raids, or the English-speaking northwest and southwest. Douala, Yaoundé and the rest sit apart from both wars.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Cameroon: 0.30
Ranked 12th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Cameroon due process and movement are rated 0, meaning absent, so the courts offer no protection and movement is controlled. Total 3 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Courts offer no protection and movement is controlled. Due process is routinely violated, and fighting between security forces and separatists in the Northwest and Southwest regions has killed and displaced many civilians.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Cameroon: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts carry up to five years in prison, and the law is enforced more actively than almost anywhere in Africa. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Arrests on suspicion alone, phone searches and mob violence make this one of the most dangerous places on the continent to be outed.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Cameroon: 0.00
Ranked 1st least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Attacks on women were recorded throughout 2024 at close to the index's worst-case rate. Only 41 percent of women feel safe out alone at night, and partner violence is 22 percent.
Is it safe to visit?
Cameroon is dangerous for a woman travelling alone.