🇱🇾 State of Libya (ليبيا)
Visiting: Dangerous
Libya is a place to visit with caution. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Nothing ranks highly here: violent crime is moderate, ranking 70th, and women's safety is fair, at 106th. Where it lags is the roads, which are among the deadliest anywhere, placed 179th, and freedom is close to absent, ranking 169th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Libya: 2.1
Ranked 70th in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Two killings per 100,000 people a year is low. The safest countries sit under one.
Is it safe to visit?
Don't read anything into the low homicide figure — it's a WHO estimate made in the middle of a war. The Conflict score is what matters here.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Libya: 34.0
Ranked 2nd in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Thirty-four deaths per 100,000 people a year is well over double the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. More than twice the world average, and three-quarters of the deaths are people in vehicles — every drive carries the risk.
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.
Libya: 4.05
Ranked 21st most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
UN Security Council sanctions over its conflict put Libya in the dark red. Nine people died in fighting inside the country in the year to July 2026, one of them a civilian killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care in Zawiya and the west, where fighting between the state and an armed group killed nine people in the year to July 2026. Tripoli is not far from 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.
Libya: 0.30
Ranked 12th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Libya 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?
Split between rival administrations and armed militias, with foreign mercenaries and extremist groups present. Courts offer no protection, movement is rated absent, and human rights conditions have deteriorated. Not a place to travel casually.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Libya: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts carry up to five years, and militias impose far worse than the courts. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Among the most dangerous places anywhere. Armed groups have detained, tortured and killed people over perceived orientation.
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.
Libya: 6.87
Ranked 75th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Seventy-seven percent of women feel safe out alone at night and few think wife-beating can be justified. The courts are rated near the bottom for women, and that is most of the loss.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care when visiting Libya.