Papua New Guinea

Is Papua New Guinea safe to visit?

It can be, but only if you plan around the risks rather than ignoring them. The US rates Papua New Guinea at Level 3, "reconsider travel", because of crime, civil unrest and piracy, and tells its citizens not to go to most of the Highlands or to central Bougainville. The UK advises against all but essential travel to Hela, Southern Highlands and most of Enga. We score PNG 41, well below its neighbours Indonesia and the Philippines.

That number describes the towns and the Highlands. A dive resort in Milne Bay or Kimbe, a lodge on the Sepik river or a guided trek with a reputable company is a very different trip from a few nights alone in Port Moresby. Most visitors who have a good time are on organised itineraries.

Crime in Port Moresby, Lae and Mount Hagen

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 describes a high risk of serious crime in the three biggest towns, and the suburbs as particularly dangerous. Criminals often carry bush knives or firearms. Carjacking is common, and gangs set up roadblocks outside towns to rob vehicles and attack the people inside. The US adds home invasions and attacks on resorts popular with foreigners. Rape and sexual assault are common, including on public minibuses, the PMVs.

Reliable crime statistics are scarce. The last national homicide figure, 9.3 per 100,000, dates from 2010; WHO's model gives 10.4 (WHO modelled estimate, 2021). The age of the data is one reason our confidence is low.

What works in practice:

• Arrange airport pickup through your hotel and use its drivers for every trip.
• Never take a PMV or flag down a taxi, and do not walk after dark.
• Withdraw cash inside hotels or shopping centres, in daylight, and carry little.
• Avoid Waigani around Parliament House outside office hours and the Lae–Nadzab airport highway at night.
• If you are robbed, hand everything over. Resisting is what gets people hurt.

Tribal fighting and unrest

Fighting between clans is common in the Highlands, and fighters are often armed with guns. In February 2024 at least 26 men were killed in a single ambush in Enga, police told the Associated Press. More recently, after violence around Wapenamanda, the Enga provincial government declared every district except Wabag a "fighting zone", with checkpoints, searches and curfews (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, August 2026). The FCDO says tribal fighters do not normally target foreigners, but a fight can start without warning and close roads and services.

Bougainville has been calm since the 2001 peace agreement, but the area around the old Panguna mine is a no-go zone. Piracy is active off the north and east coasts, and the US says sailboats carrying Americans were boarded and robbed three times in 2021 and 2022. Riots and looting spread through Port Moresby and Lae in January 2024 after a police pay dispute.

The 2026 Global Peace IndexGlobal Peace IndexAn annual ranking of 163 countries by how peaceful they are, based on conflict, crime, militarisation and political instability.More in the glossary ranks PNG 84th of 163 and names it the most improved country in Asia-Pacific, mainly on militarisation. That has not yet changed what travellers face on the ground.

Health: malaria and very basic hospitals

Malaria is the health risk to plan for. CDC recommends prescription tablets for many areas, and dengue, Zika, chikungunya and tuberculosis are also present. CDC's polio notice of September 2026 lists PNG, so check your polio vaccination. 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 calls medical facilities very basic: hospitals run out of drugs and supplies and lose power. Serious cases are flown to Australia, so insurance with air evacuation is essential. Altitude sickness is possible on high treks such as Mount Wilhelm.

Earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides

PNG sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Mount Ulawun forced more than 5,000 people from their homes in November 2023, and a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit New Britain in April 2025. The worst recent disaster was the landslide at Yambali in Enga on 24 May 2024, which the IOM estimated buried about 670 people. Rabaul, Kimbe and Manam Island see the most volcanic activity. Floods and landslides block roads in the wet season, from November to May.

How to visit more safely

Book through operators who handle transport and security, especially in towns. Register with your embassy, leave your itinerary with someone at home, and expect domestic flights to be delayed or cancelled. On the road, if you are in a crash, drive to a police station rather than staying at the scene, because crowds can turn on drivers.

How we scored it

Health (30) and petty crime (30) are the weakest factors, followed by violent crime (40) and conflict (42). Road safety (55) is the strongest, though the WHO estimateWHO road-death estimateThe World Health Organization's estimate of road traffic deaths per 100,000 people in a country, adjusted for deaths that police statistics miss.More in the glossary is old and probably understates crash deaths. Confidence is low because the last national homicide figure is from 2010 and national crime statistics are not published regularly.