Government of Canada
Level 4Avoid all travel
Updated: Sep 24, 2026 Source
Last successfully checked: Oct 1, 2026
Last update: October 10, 2026
Updated dailyIs It Safe to Travel to Burkina Faso Right Now?
Not recommended
4 4.3 out of 10
Safety Score
Last updated: October 10, 2026 96% data coverage
Burkina Faso has a safety score of 4.3/10 as of October 10, 2026, rated as High risk and ranking 232nd out of 248 countries worldwide. The biggest concern is conflict (3.1/10), while the strongest area is environment (6.2/10). It combines 20 government travel advisories and 6 other public datasets and is recalculated daily.
What are the safety risk areas?
Conflict 3.1/10
Health 3.4/10
Governance 4.7/10
Crime 5.9/10
Environment 6.2/10
Indicator-level detail
Conflict 3.1/10 · High · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Peace Index - Overall Score | 3.7/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| GPI Militarisation Score | 7.3/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| UCDP Conflict-Death Count (log-normalized) | 1.7/10 | ucdp | 2025 |
Health 3.4/10 · High · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Bank Child Mortality Rate | 6.3/10 | worldbank | 2024 |
| INFORM Health Risk Index | 0.8/10 | inform | 2026 |
| INFORM Epidemic Risk Index | 2.7/10 | inform | 2026 |
Governance 4.7/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| V-Dem Rule of Law Index | 4.8/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| V-Dem Public Administration Quality | 5.5/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| V-Dem Political Corruption (inverted) | 6.3/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| INFORM Governance Index | 3.5/10 | inform | 2026 |
Crime 5.9/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPI Safety & Security Score | 5.0/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| World Bank Intentional-Homicide Rate (population-reliability scaled) | 9.8/10 | worldbank | 2017 |
Environment 6.2/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 80%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Bank Air Pollution (PM2.5) | 6.3/10 | worldbank | 2023 |
| INFORM Natural Hazard Risk | 7.1/10 | inform | 2026 |
| INFORM Climate Risk | 7.8/10 | inform | 2026 |
| ReliefWeb Active Humanitarian Disasters | 9.0/10 | reliefweb | 2026 |
See how these scores are calculated on the Methodology page.
Community Sentiment
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What do governments say?
Sources (20)
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Level 3Alleen noodzakelijke reizen
Updated: Sep 24, 2026 Source
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to travel to Burkina Faso in 2026?
No — Burkina Faso is currently a high-risk destination: as of October 2026 it scores 4.3/10 on our daily safety index, classified as High risk, and travel requires serious caution. The score is an uncertainty-weighted (Bayesian shrinkage) geometric mean of five pillars: conflict (30%), crime (25%), health (20%), governance (15%) and environment (10%).
A weak pillar drags the overall score down more than a strong one lifts it, and the mix also folds in a calibrated consensus of government travel advisories. Thin or stale data pulls a country's score toward a cautious regional baseline instead of guessing — see our methodology page for the full statistical detail.
environment (6.2/10) is Burkina Faso's strongest pillar, while the score is pulled down by health (3.4/10) and above all by conflict (3.1/10). This pillar measures armed conflict, terrorism and political violence — a low score means instability can affect personal safety and disrupt travel plans.
It combines 20 government travel advisories and 6 other public datasets and is recalculated daily.
What is the biggest risk when traveling to Burkina Faso?
The main concern for Burkina Faso is conflict, its weakest pillar at 3.1/10. This pillar measures armed conflict, terrorism and political violence — a low score means instability can affect personal safety and disrupt travel plans.
The lowest-scoring signals here are conflict deaths (UCDP) and overall peacefulness (Global Peace Index). The second-lowest area is health at 3.4/10, so it deserves attention too.
By contrast, environment scores 6.2/10 and is Burkina Faso's strongest area.
What do government travel advisories say about Burkina Faso?
As of October 2026, Burkina Faso has 20 government travel advisories on record. Most governments now advise against all travel to Burkina Faso: the highest-level warning — do not travel — has been issued by United States and United Kingdom, among others.
These warnings are severe enough to weigh heavily on our index: when a majority of governments issue a do-not-travel advisory, Burkina Faso's overall score is pulled sharply toward the low end, on top of whatever its other pillars show.
How does Burkina Faso compare to nearby countries?
| Country | Score | Conflict | Crime | Health | Governance | Environment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mauritius | 7.9 | 8.5 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 6.6 | 7.6 |
| Seychelles | 7.9 | 8.5 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 7.9 |
| Cabo Verde | 7.7 | 8.2 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 6.2 | 7.7 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 7.6 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 7.2 | 6.1 | 7.9 |
| Burkina Faso | 4.3 | 3.1 | 5.9 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 6.2 |
Burkina Faso and its neighbouring countries
Related Countries
Similar safety scores
How has the safety score changed over time?
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Where does the data come from?
- advisoriesFresh
Travel advisories from 20 governments: US State Department, UK FCDO, Government of Canada, Australian Government, German Federal Foreign Office, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Zealand SafeTravel, Ireland Department of Foreign Affairs, Austrian Federal Ministry (BMEIA), Belgium Federal Public Service, Estonia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy Viaggiare Sicuri, Spain Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan Bureau of Consular Affairs, Switzerland Federal Department (EDA), Poland Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Hungary Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Checked: Oct 10, 2026
- gpiFresh
Global Peace Index -- annual peacefulness ranking by IEP
Data vintage: 2026Checked: Oct 10, 2026
- informFresh
INFORM Risk Index -- hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and coping capacity
Data vintage: 2026Checked: Oct 10, 2026
- reliefwebFresh
ReliefWeb -- humanitarian situation reports and disaster alerts
Data vintage: 2026Checked: Oct 10, 2026
- ucdpFresh
UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset (Uppsala Conflict Data Program) -- state-based and one-sided conflict deaths, via the Our World in Data mirror (CC-BY)
Data vintage: 2025Checked: Oct 10, 2026
- vdemFresh
V-Dem Institute Country-Year Dataset v16 (CC-BY-SA 4.0) -- Rule of Law, Political Corruption, and Public Administration indices (Coppedge et al., DOI 10.23696/vdemds26)
Data vintage: 2025Checked: Oct 10, 2026
- worldbankRecent
World Bank Development Indicators -- child mortality and PM2.5 air pollution
Data vintage: 2017–2024Checked: Oct 10, 2026