🇩🇯 Republic of Djibouti (Jabuuti)
Visiting: High Risk
Djibouti is not a place to visit without care. Its best measures are only mid-range: LGBT rights are limited, ranking 96th, and women's safety is fair, at 98th. Where it lags is the roads, which are hazardous, placed 156th. Violent crime is moderate, there is significant exposure to conflict and freedom is tightly restricted, with all three ranking between 120th and 132nd.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Djibouti: 5.8
Ranked 61st in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
It sits exactly at the world average of 5.8 killings per 100,000 people a year, the line where the risky tier begins.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. The rate sits right at the world average. Djibouti publishes no count, so we used the WHO's estimate.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Djibouti: 23.3
Ranked 25th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Twenty-three deaths per 100,000 people a year is well above the world average of fifteen but short of double it.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Half as high again as the world average.
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.
Djibouti: 2.54
Ranked 51st most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
14 people died in fighting inside Djibouti in the year to July 2026, none of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care in the north. Fourteen people died in fighting between the army and rebels in Tadjourah and Dikhil in the year to July 2026. Djibouti city and the coast saw none of it.
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.
Djibouti: 4.33
Ranked 49th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Djibouti protest and press are rated 0, meaning absent. Due process and movement are 2 and 2, so a visitor who keeps the rules is left alone. Total 8 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
One president since 1999. Protest and independent press are rated absent, and journalists or activists who criticise the government are harassed or arrested. A visitor who keeps quiet is left alone.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Djibouti: 3.4
Ranked 85th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Never criminalised, with no recognition or protections. The law index sits at 34 and there is no opinion survey, so the law alone sets the rank.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable, with discretion. A deeply conservative society where the absence of a law changes little, and everything stays hidden.
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.
Djibouti: 7.03
Ranked 83rd least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
No attacks on women are recorded and the courts rate below fair. The index estimates the street and home figures for the region, and those estimates put both in the middle.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone will find Djibouti reasonable.