🇵🇰 Islamic Republic of Pakistan (پاکستان)
Visiting: Dangerous
Pakistan is a place to visit with caution. Same-sex relationships are criminalised and punishable by death, which places it 176th for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Conflict is the main concern: it ranks 173rd, in the bottom twenty. Nothing ranks highly here: road deaths are moderate, at 82nd, and violent crime sits mid-range, placed 105th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Pakistan: 4.3
Ranked 76th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Just over four killings per 100,000 people a year is below the world average but above the three where the low tier ends.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. Below the world average — 10,877 killings in 2024, the provinces' totals added up.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Pakistan: 11.9
Ranked 82nd in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Twelve deaths per 100,000 people a year is under the world average of fifteen but past half of it.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable by the numbers, but not on two wheels or on foot — four in ten deaths are motorcyclists and four in ten are pedestrians.
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.
Pakistan: 4.67
Ranked 8th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
4,290 people died in fighting inside Pakistan in the year to July 2026, 272 of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the Pakistani Taliban's insurgency has roared back, or Balochistan, where separatists bomb and ambush. The Punjab heartland and the big cities stay mostly clear of 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.
Pakistan: 5.47
Ranked 66th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Pakistan the lowest are press, religion and due process at 1. Total 9 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Regular elections, but the military intimidates the media and uses force with impunity. Islamist militants attack the state and religious minorities. Press, religion and the courts are the low ratings.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Pakistan: Stoning
Ranked 5th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Same-sex acts are criminal under Section 377 and sharia provisions, theoretically up to life, with stoning possible under Islamic hudood laws. Prosecutions are rare, blackmail is not. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe to be open. Trans people, known as khwaja sira, hold legal recognition and public roles, while gay life stays wholly hidden.
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.
Pakistan: 6.26
Ranked 43rd least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Only 41 percent of women feel safe out alone at night and the courts rate below fair. Partner violence is sixteen percent, and half of women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care in Pakistan.