Government of Canada
Level 1Exercise normal security precautions
Updated: Sep 24, 2026 Source
Last successfully checked: Oct 1, 2026
Last update: October 11, 2026
Updated dailyIs It Safe to Travel to Zambia Right Now?
Generally safe
7 7.1 out of 10
Safety Score
Last updated: October 11, 2026 96% data coverage
Zambia has a safety score of 7.1/10 as of October 11, 2026, rated as Low risk and ranking 98th out of 248 countries worldwide. The biggest concern is governance (5.1/10), while the strongest area is conflict (7.8/10). It combines 20 government travel advisories and 6 other public datasets and is recalculated daily.
What are the safety risk areas?
Governance 5.1/10
Health 6.3/10
Environment 6.4/10
Crime 6.7/10
Conflict 7.8/10
Indicator-level detail
Governance 5.1/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| V-Dem Rule of Law Index | 6.5/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| V-Dem Public Administration Quality | 5.4/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| V-Dem Political Corruption (inverted) | 5.7/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| INFORM Governance Index | 3.1/10 | inform | 2026 |
Health 6.3/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Bank Child Mortality Rate | 7.6/10 | worldbank | 2024 |
| INFORM Health Risk Index | 8.7/10 | inform | 2026 |
| INFORM Epidemic Risk Index | 3.7/10 | inform | 2026 |
Environment 6.4/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 80%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Bank Air Pollution (PM2.5) | 8.0/10 | worldbank | 2023 |
| INFORM Natural Hazard Risk | 6.9/10 | inform | 2026 |
| INFORM Climate Risk | 5.2/10 | inform | 2026 |
| ReliefWeb Active Humanitarian Disasters | 7.0/10 | reliefweb | 2026 |
Crime 6.7/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPI Safety & Security Score | 6.3/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| World Bank Intentional-Homicide Rate (population-reliability scaled) | 9.1/10 | worldbank | 2015 |
Conflict 7.8/10 · Low · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Peace Index - Overall Score | 6.7/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| GPI Militarisation Score | 8.9/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| UCDP Conflict-Death Count (log-normalized) | 10.0/10 | ucdp | 2025 |
See how these scores are calculated on the Methodology page.
Community Sentiment
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What do governments say?
Sources (20)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to travel to Zambia in 2026?
Yes, generally — Zambia is considered a safe destination: as of October 2026 it scores 7.1/10 on our daily safety index, classified as Low risk. 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.
conflict (7.8/10) is Zambia's strongest pillar, while the score is pulled down by health (6.3/10) and above all by governance (5.1/10). 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 combines 20 government travel advisories and 6 other public datasets and is recalculated daily.
What is the biggest risk when traveling to Zambia?
No single factor stands out as critical for Zambia: its relatively weakest area is governance at 5.1/10, close to the global mid-range. 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 government effectiveness (V-Dem). Its strongest pillar is conflict at 7.8/10.
What do government travel advisories say about Zambia?
As of October 2026, Zambia has 20 government travel advisories on record. The prevailing guidance is to exercise increased caution when visiting Zambia; the strongest current warning — reconsider travel — comes from Serbia and Taiwan.
How does Zambia 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 |
| Zambia | 7.1 | 7.8 | 6.7 | 6.3 | 5.1 | 6.4 |
Zambia 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), Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Serbia 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 11, 2026
- gpiFresh
Global Peace Index -- annual peacefulness ranking by IEP
Data vintage: 2026Checked: Oct 11, 2026
- informFresh
INFORM Risk Index -- hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and coping capacity
Data vintage: 2026Checked: Oct 11, 2026
- reliefwebFresh
ReliefWeb -- humanitarian situation reports and disaster alerts
Data vintage: 2026Checked: Oct 11, 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 11, 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 11, 2026
- worldbankRecent
World Bank Development Indicators -- child mortality and PM2.5 air pollution
Data vintage: 2015–2024Checked: Oct 11, 2026