Quito

Is Quito safe?

Safer than its country's headlines suggest, but not a place to relax your guard. Ecuador ended 2025 with a record homicide rateHomicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary of about 51 per 100,000, driven by gang wars on the coast. Quito counted 264 homicides, about 9 per 100,000, according to the city's security secretariat. That is a lower rate than Lima or Bogotá, though it is rising.

The risks a visitor meets are muggings, express kidnappings in taxis and drugging, not gang violence. We score Quito 52 out of 100, level with Lima and Bogotá. The city is under a 60-day state of emergency declared on 15 September 2026 for Pichincha province and seven others, so expect soldiers and checkpoints.

Where the killings happen

The violence has changed shape. City figures show killings linked to organised crime rose from 179 in 2024 to 204 in 2025, while deaths from fights and personal disputes fell, and firearms were used in 163 killings. Police data reported by Expreso show that the southern districts of Eloy Alfaro and Quitumbe each had about a fifth of the year's homicides, and that killings rose sharply in Tumbaco and in Eugenio Espejo in the north.

Gangs also use fear as a weapon. The UK Foreign Office says organised crime groups have set off small explosions and made false bomb threats in Quito since March 2023, and Canada says most bomb threats have been hoaxes. Follow police instructions if an area is cleared.

Robbery, taxis and express kidnapping

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says mugging and pickpocketing are common in Quito's old town and at transport hubs. Thieves use distraction: a request for help, a liquid squirted on your clothes, a staged fight or a push in a crowd. Bags are snatched at knife or gunpoint by passengers on motorbikes, and criminals pose as uniformed bus inspectors at some Quito bus stations.

Taxis are the biggest single risk. Express kidnappings, in which victims are driven around to empty their bank accounts, are common in Ecuador, and the FCDO says many start with a taxi hailed in the street; some victims are drugged with scopolamine, which can even be absorbed through the skin. What helps:

• Book taxis through your hotel or a known radio taxi company; at the airport use the authorised booths.
• In a registered yellow taxi, check for the municipal sticker on the windscreen and doors, orange or orange-striped plates and cameras inside, and make sure the meter is reset.
• Use cash machines inside banks or shopping centres, never after dark.
• Do not accept drinks or help from strangers, and watch your glass in bars.
• If you are threatened, hand everything over.

The old town and La Mariscal at night

The historic centre has improved. City data show thefts and disturbances in Plaza del Teatro and San Francisco fell by 25% to 57% in 2025, and municipal police patrol Plaza Grande, San Francisco and the restored streets such as García Moreno. After 10 pm, though, those streets are deserted, and the surrounding areas of La Marín, San Juan, San Roque and Santo Domingo are still considered unsafe. La Mariscal, once the nightlife district, is largely empty after 9 pm.

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary advises against walking alone in quiet areas or at night, and Canada advises against travelling after dark in Ecuador. Gallup's 2025 survey found only 38% of Ecuadorians feel safe walking alone at night, one of the lowest shares in the world. Plan evenings around a booked taxi both ways.

Roads, air and volcanoes

In 2025 traffic killed more people in Quito than homicide did. Quito Data Vial counted 296 road deaths in 2025, up 13%, and its rate of 10.4 per 100,000 counts only deaths at the scene; a road safety expert told El Comercio the true rate is probably 14 to 15. Motorcyclists and pedestrians are most at risk, so cross wide avenues at lights.

The air is cleaner than in Bogotá, Lima or Santiago: IQAir measured 9.7 µg/m³ of fine particlesPM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary in 2024. Good health care exists but is limited, Canada says, and public services are below Canadian standards, so carry insurance. Altitude sickness is a risk; the teleférico climbs to 4,050 m, and walkers have died of hypothermia on Rucu Pichincha above it.

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary rates the earthquake risk in Ecuador as high. Canada notes volcanoes around Quito, and the FCDO warns that ash can close airports at short notice and that mudflows from Cotopaxi threaten the Los Chillos and Rumiñahui valleys east of the city. Canada also warns that El Niño may bring more floods and severe storms into 2027. For the coast, the Amazon and the Galápagos, see our Ecuador page.

How we scored it

Theft and robbery (42) and walking at night (44) are Quito's weakest factors, followed by traffic safety (45) and natural hazards (50). Violent crime (60) is far better than Ecuador's average, and health (66) is its strongest. Ecuador's conflict score of 40 caps any city at 75, but Quito's weighted average of 52 sits well below that cap.