🇲🇱 Republic of Mali
Visiting: Dangerous
Mali presents serious risks to any visitor. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Conflict is the main concern: it ranks 168th, in the bottom twenty. Beyond that, nothing ranks well: freedom is tightly restricted, ranking 121st, and women's safety is poor, at 135th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Mali: 10.0
Ranked 33rd in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Ten killings per 100,000 people a year is nearly twice the world average and exactly on the ten where the deadliest countries start.
Is it safe to visit?
A real risk. Nearly twice the world average, and Mali reports no usable count — we used the WHO's estimate.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Mali: 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 on a motorbike — four in ten deaths are riders. Away from motorbikes, the risk is far smaller.
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.
Mali: 4.43
Ranked 13th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
1,831 people died in fighting inside Mali in the year to July 2026, 338 of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Bamako is under a fuel blockade, swathes of the country are beyond the junta's control, and Russian mercenaries fight alongside 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.
Mali: 5.31
Ranked 60th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Mali 4 of the six freedoms are rated 1 and the rest higher. Total 8 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
A junta has ruled since coups in 2020 and 2021, with elections postponed. Political parties are rated absent. Conflict with Islamist militants affects the north and centre, which is the bigger risk.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Mali: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Criminalised for the first time in December 2024. The junta's penal code sets up to seven years for same-sex acts and for promoting them. Any criminal law is red.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. A community that had always lived legally, if invisibly, became criminal overnight, and activists report people fleeing the country.
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.
Mali: 6.33
Ranked 46th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Sixty-seven percent of women feel safe out alone at night. Attacks on women were recorded through 2024, partner violence is eighteen percent, and three in four women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care as a woman travelling alone in Mali.