Last update: July 12, 2026
Updated dailyNorth Korea
5 5.3 out of 10
Safety Score
Only for experienced travelers
+0.1 vs 7 days ago
Last updated: July 12, 2026 82% data coverage
North Korea has a safety score of 5.3/10 as of July 12, 2026, rated as Moderate risk and ranking 209th out of 248 countries worldwide. The biggest concern is governance (2.4/10), while the strongest area is health (6.8/10). This score is calculated daily from 40+ independent public sources.
What are the safety risk areas?
Governance 2.4/10
Crime 5.0/10
Conflict 5.5/10
Environment 5.5/10
Health 6.8/10
Indicator-level detail
Governance 2.4/10 · High · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| vdem rule of law | 0.3/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| vdem gov effectiveness | 2.4/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| vdem corruption control | 3.3/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| inform governance | 1.7/10 | inform | 2026 |
Crime 5.0/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 50%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpi safety security | 5.4/10 | gpi | 2026 |
Conflict 5.5/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpi overall | 3.8/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| gpi militarisation | 4.7/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| ucdp conflict deaths | 10.0/10 | ucdp | 2025 |
Environment 5.5/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 60%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| wb air pollution | 7.8/10 | worldbank | 2023 |
| inform natural | 5.3/10 | inform | 2026 |
| inform climate | 3.5/10 | inform | 2026 |
Health 6.8/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| wb child mortality | 9.2/10 | worldbank | 2024 |
| inform health | 6.7/10 | inform | 2026 |
| inform epidemic | 7.0/10 | inform | 2026 |
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What do governments say?
Sources (6)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to travel to North Korea in 2026?
Yes, but with caution — North Korea is moderately safe: as of July 2026 it scores 5.3/10 on our daily safety index, classified as Moderate risk. Most trips are trouble-free, but some risks deserve attention.
The score is an uncertainty-weighted (Bayesian shrinkage) geometric mean of five pillars — conflict (30%), crime (25%), health (20%), governance (15%) and environment (10%) — combined with a calibrated consensus of government travel advisories, so a weak pillar drags the overall score down more than a strong one lifts it, and thin or stale data pulls a country's score toward a cautious regional baseline rather than guessing. health (6.8/10) is North Korea's strongest pillar, while the score is pulled down by crime (5.0/10) and above all by governance (2.4/10).
This pillar gauges the rule of law and the reliability of institutions — a low score means police and courts may offer limited help if something goes wrong. It is recalculated every day from public sources including government travel advisories, the Global Peace Index, the INFORM Risk Index and World Bank indicators.
What is the biggest risk when traveling to North Korea?
The main concern for North Korea is governance, its weakest pillar at 2.4/10. This pillar gauges the rule of law and the reliability of institutions — a low score means police and courts may offer limited help if something goes wrong.
The lowest-scoring signals here are rule of law (V-Dem) and institutional and governance fragility (INFORM). The second-lowest area is crime at 5.0/10, so it deserves attention too.
By contrast, health scores 6.8/10 and is North Korea's strongest area.
What do government travel advisories say about North Korea?
As of July 2026, North Korea has 6 government travel advisories on record. The overall picture is reassuring: most governments advise only normal precautions for North Korea, and none currently raises it above a low-level advisory.
How does North Korea compare to nearby countries?
| Country | Score | Conflict | Crime | Health | Governance | Environment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 8.1 |
| Japan | 8.2 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 5.3 |
| South Korea | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 5.3 |
| Bhutan | 8.0 | 8.7 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 6.4 |
| North Korea | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.0 | 6.8 | 2.4 | 5.5 |
North Korea and its neighbouring countries
Related Countries
In the same region
See all countries in this regionSimilar safety scores
How has the safety score changed over time?
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Where does the data come from?
- advisoriesFresh
Travel advisories from 37 governments worldwide including US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Slovakia, France, New Zealand, Ireland, Finland, Hong Kong, Brazil, Austria, Philippines, Belgium, Denmark, Singapore, Romania, Serbia, Estonia, Croatia, Argentina, Italy, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, China, India, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Portugal
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026
- gpiFresh
Global Peace Index -- annual peacefulness ranking by IEP
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026
- informFresh
INFORM Risk Index -- hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and coping capacity
Fetched: Jul 12, 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)
Fetched: Jul 12, 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)
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026
- worldbankFresh
World Bank Development Indicators -- child mortality and PM2.5 air pollution
Fetched: Jul 12, 2026