🇬🇭 Republic of Ghana
Visiting: High Risk
Ghana is not a place to go unprepared. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Even so, freedom is well protected, ranking 52nd, and violent crime is rare, the 57th-lowest homicide rate. Its weakest measure is the roads, which are among the deadliest anywhere, placed 166th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Ghana: 1.8
Ranked 57th in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under two killings per 100,000 people a year is low by any standard. The safest countries sit under one, and Ghana is a step above that.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine for a visitor. Ghana's own 2022 count puts the rate well below the world average.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Ghana: 25.9
Ranked 15th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Twenty-six deaths per 100,000 people a year is nearly double the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Two-thirds of the deaths are people on motorbikes or on foot.
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.
Ghana: 2.68
Ranked 45th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
31 people died in fighting inside Ghana in the year to July 2026, none of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care in the far north. The 31 deaths in the year to July 2026 were in the Upper East, where the Sahel war presses on the Burkina Faso border. Accra is untouched.
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.
Ghana: 7.80
Ranked 52nd freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Ghana 5 of the six freedoms are rated 3 and the rest higher. Total 19 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Competitive elections since 1992 with peaceful handovers between two main parties. Civil liberties are broadly upheld. Weaknesses sit in the courts and in politically motivated violence, which a visitor rarely meets.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Ghana: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts between men remain a criminal misdemeanour, and parliament has twice passed a far harsher bill that awaits a president's signature. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. The legislative campaign licensed real persecution, with raids, evictions and mob violence documented while the bill hung over the community.
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.
Ghana: 7.42
Ranked 80th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Sixty-two percent of women feel safe out alone at night and the courts rate fairly. Partner violence is ten percent, and nearly four in ten women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
Ghana is reasonable for a woman travelling alone.