🇺🇿 Republic of Uzbekistan (Oʻzbekiston)
Visiting: Risky
Uzbekistan is generally safe, with a few caveats. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, which places it 122nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. That said, violent crime is rare, the 50th-lowest homicide rate, and road deaths are moderate, at 62nd. Its weak spot is freedom, which is tightly restricted, placed 155th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Uzbekistan: 1.4
Ranked 50th in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under one and a half killings per 100,000 people a year is low. The safest countries sit under one, and Uzbekistan is a shade above.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine for a visitor. The last count, from 2021, sits well below the world average.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Uzbekistan: 9.3
Ranked 62nd in the world for the safest roads.
Why this rank?
Nine 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. Comfortably 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.
Uzbekistan: 1.43
Ranked 81st least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
No conflict death is recorded in Uzbekistan in the last five years. The last one the Uppsala conflict database has was in May 2009.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing armed reaches a visitor anywhere in the country, and the Afghan border is closely watched.
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.
Uzbekistan: 2.31
Ranked 26th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Uzbekistan due process is rated 0, meaning absent, so the courts offer no protection if anything goes wrong. Total 4 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Reforms since 2016 have not changed an authoritarian state: no legal opposition, tightly controlled media and reports of torture. Courts offer no protection if anything goes wrong.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Uzbekistan: Illegal
Ranked 59th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
It is one of only two ex-Soviet states still criminalising, with up to three years for sex between men, kept in the 2021 code revision despite UN pressure. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Entrapment, police blackmail and a 2023 wave of attacks on suspected gay men. Among the region's worst climates.
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.
Uzbekistan: 7.34
Ranked 84th safest country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Eighty-one percent of women feel safe out alone at night and almost no attacks on women are recorded. The courts rate poorly, and four in ten women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
Uzbekistan is a reasonable choice for a woman travelling alone.