City Travel Stats

Panama City

Panama · Latin America & Caribbean

37Safety indexHigher concern
2US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution
1CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 1 · Normal precautions
1GB flagUK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions
2AU flagSmartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution
5/5metric categories covered
Open comparison
8.98°, -79.52°
Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Panama City scores 37 out of 100 in our composite index, with only about 9% of the cities we rank falling below it.

Its homicide rate is 23 per 100,000, roughly 14 times the median for the cities we track. That figure pools more than one year, covers the wider metro area, and was calculated by us from a count and a population, so it is an approximate upper bound. Robbery is recorded at 235.4 per 100,000, again for the metro area and drawn from police records that understate the true count. The governments we track disagree: the US and Australia set Panama at their second advisory level, increased caution, while Canada and the UK keep it at the lowest. Advisories flag pickpocketing and scams for travellers. In a national survey, 33% of people said they feel safe walking alone at night, close to what the crime data implies.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern
Violent crimeRobbery & theftTravel advisory
Violent crime46
Robbery & theft43
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)
23/100k
Count is 2024; the per-100k rate is derived against the 2023 national census population (the latest published district figure). The one-year offset is small but noted.
Figure is for Panama City metropolitan area (Distrito de Panamá + San Miguelito) (metro area), wider than Panama City itself.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 314 (count, 2024) ÷ 1367767 population (INEC Panamá — XII Censo Nacional 2023 (Distrito de Panamá 1086990 + San Miguelito 280777), 2023) × 100k.

Primary source: Procuraduría General de la Nación (Ministerio Público) — Víctimas de homicidio (Datos Abiertos Panamá)

Where this sits on the scaleSevere
01·3·8·20·40 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 9% of tracked cities
23/100k
0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)
235.4/100k
Police-recorded robbery denuncias undercount true incidence (cifra negra). Read this as recorded robbery, not total robbery.
Figure is for Panama City metropolitan area (Distrito de Panamá + San Miguelito) (metro area), wider than Panama City itself.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 3220 (count, 2023) ÷ 1367767 population (INEC Panamá — XII Censo Nacional 2023 (Distrito de Panamá 1086990 + San Miguelito 280777), 2023) × 100k.

Primary source: Procuraduría General de la Nación (Ministerio Público) — Delitos de robo (Datos Abiertos Panamá)

Where this sits on the scaleElevated
040·120·250·400·600 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 17% of tracked cities
235.4/100k
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 — Panama Travel Advisory

Global Affairs Canada
1CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — Panama Travel Advice and Advisories

UK FCDO
1GB flagUK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: UK FCDO — Panama travel advice

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

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — Panama 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
33%feel safe
33% of people surveyed · Panama · 2016
Survey figure is for Panama (country), wider than Panama City itself.
From a 2016 survey — older than 7 years; perceptions may have shifted.

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 — Panama travel advice (Safety and security)

Scams & fraud in travel advisories
1 of 3 advisories mention this
project-atlas count: 1 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: U.S. Department of State — Panama travel advice (Safety and security)