🇺🇬 Republic of Uganda
Visiting: Take careLGBT visiting: DangerousWomen visiting: High Risk
Uganda is a place to visit with caution. Same-sex relationships are criminalised and can carry the death penalty, which places it 169th for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Nothing ranks highly here: freedom is only partly protected, ranking 109th, and road deaths are moderate, at 115th. Violent crime is common, ranking 137th, and women's safety is among the very worst, at 161st.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Uganda: 8.4
Ranked 44th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Eight killings per 100,000 people a year is well above the world average, where the risky tier begins.
Is it safe to visit?
Take it seriously. The rate runs half as high again as the world average.
Why we updated the score?
The police's 2025 crime report is out, with 4,238 killings, slightly down. The UN takes its figure from that report a year later, so we used it now.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Uganda: 16.0
Ranked 66th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Sixteen deaths per 100,000 people a year is just above the world average of fifteen.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe on two wheels or on foot, which is eight in ten of the deaths.
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.
Uganda: 2.26
Ranked 64th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
Six people died in fighting inside Uganda in the year to July 2026, all of them civilians killed on purpose. The last was in January 2026, and none since.
Is it safe to visit?
Reasonable. All six conflict deaths in the year to July 2026 were civilians killed by the security forces, in and around Kampala, the last in January.
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.
Uganda: 5.78
Ranked 72nd least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Uganda the lowest are protest, press and due process at 1. Total 11 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
The same president since 1986, with opposition leaders prosecuted and civil society and media facing harassment and state violence. Protest, press and the courts are the low ratings.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Uganda: Death
Ranked 12th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act sets life imprisonment for gay sex, the death penalty for aggravated cases, and prison for promoting homosexuality. Courts upheld it in 2024. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. The law licensed a wave of evictions, outings, mob violence and arrests. Daily life became dramatically more dangerous, not just theoretically illegal.
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.
Uganda: 5.20
Ranked 20th least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Fewer than half of women feel safe out alone at night and the courts rate poorly. Partner violence is 26 percent, and 58 percent of women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
Uganda is high risk for a woman travelling alone.