🇸🇦 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (السعودية)
Visiting: Take careLGBT visiting: Dangerous
Visiting Saudi Arabia means accepting real risks. Same-sex relationships are criminalised and punishable by death, which places it 169th for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. That said, violent crime is rare, the 23rd-lowest homicide rate, and women's safety is fair, at 73rd. There is significant exposure to conflict, the roads are hazardous and freedom is tightly restricted, with all three ranking between 125th and 145th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Saudi Arabia: 0.8
Ranked 23rd in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under one killing per 100,000 people a year is inside the line that marks the safest countries.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe for a visitor. A rate far below the world average.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Saudi Arabia: 18.5
Ranked 49th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Eighteen and a half deaths per 100,000 people a year is above the world average of fifteen, though well short of double it.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. The rate is high, well above 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.
Saudi Arabia: 2.42
Ranked 56th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Five people died in fighting inside Saudi Arabia in the year to July 2026, none of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Five people died in the Eastern Province from Iranian strikes in the year to July 2026, the last in April. Nothing else is recorded.
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.
Saudi Arabia: 4.05
Ranked 36th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Saudi Arabia protest, press and religion are rated 0, meaning absent. Due process and movement are 1 and 1, so a visitor who keeps the rules is left alone. Total 3 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Protest, press and religion are rated absent, dissent is criminalised and surveillance is pervasive. Executions reached a record in 2025. A visitor who keeps to the rules is left alone.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Saudi Arabia: Death
Ranked 12th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
No written code covers it, but under the kingdom's reading of sharia same-sex acts are punishable by death, and trans identity is criminalised too. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Police have used dating apps for entrapment. Discretion is not optional here, it is survival.
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.
Saudi Arabia: 7.54
Ranked 73rd safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Eighty-seven percent of women feel safe walking alone at night and almost no attacks on women are recorded. The courts, rated poor for women, cost it the most of any input.
Is it safe to visit?
Saudi Arabia is reasonable for a woman travelling alone.