Last update: July 12, 2026
Updated dailySouth Sudan
4 3.6 out of 10
Safety Score
Not recommended
+0.0 vs 7 days ago
Last updated: July 12, 2026 100% data coverage
South Sudan has a safety score of 3.6/10 as of July 12, 2026, rated as High risk and ranking 248th out of 248 countries worldwide. The biggest concern is governance (1.4/10), while the strongest area is environment (5.4/10). This score is calculated daily from 40+ independent public sources.
What are the safety risk areas?
Governance 1.4/10
Health 3.1/10
Conflict 3.3/10
Crime 4.2/10
Environment 5.4/10
Indicator-level detail
Governance 1.4/10 · High · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| vdem rule of law | 0.8/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| vdem gov effectiveness | 1.2/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| vdem corruption control | 1.1/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| inform governance | 0.5/10 | inform | 2026 |
Health 3.1/10 · High · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| wb child mortality | 5.2/10 | worldbank | 2024 |
| inform health | 1.2/10 | inform | 2026 |
| inform epidemic | 2.5/10 | inform | 2026 |
Conflict 3.3/10 · High · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpi overall | 2.9/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| gpi militarisation | 7.2/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| ucdp conflict deaths | 4.4/10 | ucdp | 2025 |
Crime 4.2/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpi safety security | 2.8/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| wb homicide | 7.7/10 | worldbank | 2012 |
Environment 5.4/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| wb air pollution | 7.6/10 | worldbank | 2023 |
| inform natural | 6.1/10 | inform | 2026 |
| inform climate | 2.3/10 | inform | 2026 |
| reliefweb active disasters | 7.0/10 | reliefweb | 2026 |
| gdacs disaster alerts | 8.0/10 | gdacs | 2026 |
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What do governments say?
Sources (11)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to travel to South Sudan in 2026?
No — South Sudan is currently a high-risk destination: as of July 2026 it scores 3.6/10 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%) — 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.
environment (5.4/10) is South Sudan's strongest pillar, while the score is pulled down by health (3.1/10) and above all by governance (1.4/10). 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 South Sudan?
The main concern for South Sudan is governance, its weakest pillar at 1.4/10. 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 institutional and governance fragility (INFORM) and rule of law (V-Dem). The second-lowest area is health at 3.1/10, so it deserves attention too.
By contrast, environment scores 5.4/10 and is South Sudan's strongest area.
What do government travel advisories say about South Sudan?
As of July 2026, South Sudan has 11 government travel advisories on record. Most governments now advise against all travel to South Sudan: 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, South Sudan's overall score is pulled sharply toward the low end, on top of whatever its other pillars show.
How does South Sudan compare to nearby countries?
| Country | Score | Conflict | Crime | Health | Governance | Environment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seychelles | 7.8 | 8.5 | 6.3 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.9 |
| Mauritius | 7.8 | 8.3 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 6.5 | 7.5 |
| Cabo Verde | 7.5 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 7.5 | 6.1 | 7.6 |
| Botswana | 7.5 | 7.9 | 6.6 | 7.2 | 6.5 | 7.1 |
| South Sudan | 3.6 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 5.4 |
South Sudan 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
- gdacsFresh
Global Disaster Alerting Coordination System -- natural disaster alerts
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
- reliefwebFresh
ReliefWeb -- humanitarian situation reports and disaster alerts
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