🇲🇼 Republic of Malawi (Malaŵi)
Visiting: Take careLGBT visiting: High Risk
There are caveats, but Malawi is generally safe. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. On the other side of the ledger, there is no conflict at all, ranking 1st, and violent crime is moderate, at 61st. Where it lags is the roads, which are hazardous, placed 142nd.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Malawi: 1.9
Ranked 61st in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under two killings per 100,000 people a year. Low, though the safest countries sit under one and Malawi is a step above.
Is it safe to visit?
Low risk for a visitor. The rate is well below the world average, and the WHO's estimate agrees with Malawi's last count.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Malawi: 20.2
Ranked 39th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Twenty 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. A third above the world average.
Conflict — world number one
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.
Malawi: 1.00
Ranked 1st least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Nothing on record. The Uppsala conflict database has never recorded a conflict death in Malawi since its records began in 1989.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. No war, no insurgency, no border disputes, and there never have been.
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.
Malawi: 6.56
Ranked 74th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Malawi the lowest are press, movement and due process at 2. Total 16 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Regular elections and transfers of power, and speech is mostly respected. Police brutality is common, so keep clear of any confrontation with officers.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Malawi: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts carry up to fourteen years for men and five for women, though a moratorium on arrests has held since 2012 and a court challenge is pending. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe to be open. The moratorium made space for health outreach but not for open life, and attitudes are among the region's most conservative.
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.
Malawi: 6.97
Ranked 80th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Fewer than half of women feel safe out alone at night and partner violence in the past year is seventeen percent. The courts rate fairly, and a few attacks on women were recorded in 2024.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care in Malawi.