🇲🇬 Republic of Madagascar (Madagasikara)
Visiting: Take careWomen visiting: High Risk
Madagascar has real risks to weigh. Its best measures are only mid-range: freedom is only partly protected, ranking 87th, and there is some exposure to conflict, at 90th. Its weak spot is women's safety, which is among the very worst, placed 163rd. Violent crime is common, ranking 123rd, and the roads are hazardous, at 153rd.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Madagascar: 6.1
Ranked 58th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Six killings per 100,000 people a year is a shade above the world average of 5.8, which is where the risky tier begins.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care. Just above the world average. With no national count, we used the WHO's estimate.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Madagascar: 22.5
Ranked 28th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Twenty-two and a half 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, and half the deaths are people on foot. The rate is high even as an estimate.
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.
Madagascar: 1.69
Ranked 90th least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
No conflict death is recorded in Madagascar in the last five years. The last one the Uppsala conflict database has was in August 2020.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Coups here are bloodless and war is not part of the pattern, and nothing reaches a visitor.
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.
Madagascar: 6.25
Ranked 87th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Madagascar the lowest is due process at 1. Total 14 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Elections since 2013 have been contested and a military coup took place in 2025. Permits for demonstrations are denied, defamation laws restrict the press, and the courts are the weak point.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Madagascar: 2.9
Ranked 79th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts are legal for adults over 21, an unusual unequal age of consent. The law index sits at 37 and public opinion at 22.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care. Rarely discussed and rarely visible. Antananarivo has small private networks and little else.
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.
Madagascar: 4.89
Ranked 18th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Only 38 percent of women feel safe out alone at night and the courts rate poorly. Attacks on women were recorded in 2024, and four in ten women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
For a woman travelling alone, Madagascar is high risk.