🇵🇭 Republic of the Philippines (Pilipinas)
Visiting: Take care
There are caveats, but the Philippines is generally safe. LGBT rights are solid, ranking 51st, and road deaths are moderate, at 66th. Where it lags, though, is conflict: there is significant exposure, placed 147th. Freedom is only partly protected, women's safety is fair and violent crime sits mid-range, with all three ranking between 84th and 105th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Philippines: 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, but worth some care. In the last full breakdown, a fifth of killings were by strangers and three-quarters tied to other crime.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Philippines: 9.7
Ranked 66th in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Nearly ten 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. The rate sits 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.
Philippines: 2.94
Ranked 34th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
169 people died in fighting inside the Philippines in the year to July 2026, 13 of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care in Negros and parts of Mindanao, where fighting between the army, communist rebels and Islamist groups killed 169 people in the year to July 2026. Manila and the resort islands saw none.
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.
Philippines: 6.40
Ranked 84th freest country in the world.
Why this rank?
In the Philippines the lowest are press and due process at 1. Total 15 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Free elections and a vibrant political landscape. Journalists and activists critical of the powerful face criminal cases and violence, and police and military abuses persist. Press and due process are the low ratings.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Philippines: 5.4
Ranked 51st most equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Never criminalised, but the national anti-discrimination bill has been stuck in Congress for over two decades. Public opinion scores 59, above the law at 49.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine. One of Asia's most visibly tolerant cultures, with out celebrities and huge Pride crowds, on strikingly thin legal ground.
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.
Philippines: 7.20
Ranked 90th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Partner violence is six percent and the courts rate fairly. Fifty-eight percent of women feel safe out alone at night, and more than half say a husband can sometimes be justified in beating his wife.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone will find the Philippines reasonable.