🇵🇬 Independent State of Papua New Guinea (Papua Niugini)
Visiting: High Risk
Papua New Guinea 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: freedom is only partly protected, ranking 68th, and road deaths are moderate, at 108th. Where it lags is women's safety, which is poor, placed 153rd.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Papua New Guinea: 10.4
Ranked 32nd 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 a fraction over the ten that marks the deadliest countries.
Is it safe to visit?
Take it seriously. Nearly twice the world average, on the WHO's estimate — the last count was 2010.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Papua New Guinea: 14.9
Ranked 73rd in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Fifteen deaths per 100,000 people a year is a whisker under the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable on the estimate, just below the world average.
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.
Papua New Guinea: 2.44
Ranked 55th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Three people died in fighting inside Papua New Guinea in the year to July 2026, all of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Three people died in the year to July 2026, civilians killed by the security forces in Port Moresby and the Western Highlands. The feuds in the highlands are counted under Homicide.
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.
Papua New Guinea: 6.71
Ranked 68th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Papua New Guinea the lowest is due process at 1. Total 17 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Regular elections marred by irregularities and violence, though the judiciary is independent and the media mostly free to criticise the government. Due process is the low rating.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Papua New Guinea: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Sex between men carries up to fourteen years under the colonial-era code. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe to be open. Prosecutions are rare, and stigma, blackmail and violence do the enforcing instead.
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.
Papua New Guinea: 6.02
Ranked 28th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Partner violence in the past year hits 31 percent of women, and seven in ten think wife-beating can be justified. Attacks on women were recorded too.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care as a woman travelling alone in Papua New Guinea.