City Travel Stats

Durban

South Africa · Africa

24Safety indexHigher concern
2US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution
2CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution
1GB flagUK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions
2AU flagSmartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution
5/5metric categories covered
Open comparison
-29.86°, 31.02°
Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Durban is among the lowest-scoring cities in our index, at 24 out of 100, with only about 4% of the cities we rank sitting below it.

Its homicide rate is 46.9 per 100,000, roughly 29 times the median for the cities we track. That rate covers the wider metro area and was calculated by us from a count and a population, so any single neighbourhood could sit well above or below it. Robbery is recorded at 374.7 per 100,000, and the reported number understates how often it happens. The governments we track split: the UK keeps South Africa at its lowest advisory level, while the US, Canada, and Australia each raise it to increased caution. In a national survey, 37% of people said they feel safe walking alone at night, which lines up with the hard figures.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern
Violent crimeRobbery & theftTravel advisory
Violent crime94
Robbery & theft68
Travel advisory33
The radar shows the three sourced, comparable risk measures (homicide, robbery, the strictest travel-advisory level). Tourist petty-crime signals are a different kind of measure — how often advisories mention them — so they are shown as rows under Tourist-specific incidents, not as radar axes.

Homicide / general violence

Intentional homicides (per 100,000)
46.9/100k
Figure is for eThekwini (metro area), wider than Durban itself.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 1988 (count, 2025) ÷ 4239901 population (Statistics South Africa — Census 2022, 2022) × 100k.

Primary source: South African Police Service (SAPS) — Crime Statistics, 2025/2026 (April 2025 – March 2026)

Where this sits on the scaleExtreme
01·3·8·20·40 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 3% of tracked cities
46.9/100k
0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)
374.7/100k
Police-recorded robbery undercounts true incidence — a meaningful share of robberies go unreported. Read this as recorded robbery (SAPS "Robbery with aggravating circumstances" + "Common robbery"), not total robbery.
Figure is for eThekwini (metro area), wider than Durban itself.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 15889 (count, 2025) ÷ 4239901 population (Statistics South Africa — Census 2022, 2022) × 100k.

Primary source: South African Police Service (SAPS) — Crime Statistics, 2025/2026 (April 2025 – March 2026)

Where this sits on the scaleHigh
040·120·250·400·600 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 10% of tracked cities
374.7/100k
0.4/100k safest3097.8/100k

Travel advisories

U.S. State Department
2US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: U.S. Department of State — South Africa Travel Advisory

Global Affairs Canada
2CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — South Africa Travel Advice and Advisories

UK FCDO
1GB flagUK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: UK FCDO — South Africa travel advice

Smartraveller (Australia)
2AU flagSmartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — South Africa travel advice

Perceived safety

How safe people say they feel, from official population surveys — a separate signal, not part of the Safety Index.
Feel safe walking alone at night
National survey
37%feel safe
37% of people surveyed · South Africa · 2022
Survey figure is for South Africa (country), wider than Durban itself.

Primary source: UN SDG 16.1.4 — feel safe walking alone at night (UNODC)

Tourist-specific incidents

How often government travel advisories mention each — a source-consensus signal, not a risk rate.
Pickpocketing & petty theft in travel advisories
3 of 3 advisories mention this
project-atlas count: 3 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — South Africa travel advice (Safety and security)

Scams & fraud in travel advisories
3 of 3 advisories mention this
project-atlas count: 3 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — South Africa travel advice (Safety and security)