Skip to content
SafetyScorer

Ranking

Safest Countries in Central America 2026

Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, the seven countries on the isthmus between Mexico and Colombia. Mexico is not on the list because it lies in North America. Each score is built for visitors and combines homicide, conflict and terrorism, road deaths, health risks, natural hazards and petty crime.

Updated · Scores update with each page

The ranking

  1. Panama

    Panama City, Bocas del Toro, Boquete and the San Blas islands are visited safely by most travellers, and the US rates Panama Level 2. Gang killings in Panamá and Colón provinces keep homicides near 13 per 100,000, the Darién jungle is off limits, and roads and protests are the other risks.

    Score 67, grade C

  2. El Salvador

    El Salvador has gone from one of the most violent countries in the world to one of the calmest in the Americas, with 82 murders recorded in 2025 on a narrow government count, and the US rates it Level 1. Rights groups say the state of exception behind this led to mass arbitrary arrests and deaths in custody.

    Score 64, grade C

  3. Costa Rica

    Costa Rica is politically calm with good medical care, and most visitors to its beaches and cloud forests have no trouble. But homicides have stayed near record highs, at 16.7 per 100,000 in 2025, mostly gang violence in San José, Limón and Puntarenas. Visitors mostly meet car theft and rip currents.

    Score 61, grade C

  4. Belize

    Most visitors to Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Placencia and San Ignacio have no serious trouble, and the US rates Belize Level 2. But gang violence centred on Belize City's Southside gives this small country a homicide rate of about 21.8 per 100,000, care is limited, and hurricanes threaten from June to November.

    Score 53, grade D

  5. Nicaragua

    Granada, León, San Juan del Sur and Ometepe see fairly little violent crime against visitors. The real risk is political. UN experts document arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and expulsions of critics, and the US rates Nicaragua Level 3 over wrongful detention. Roads, health care and volcanoes add to it.

    Score 52, grade D

  6. Guatemala

    Most visitors to Antigua, Lake Atitlán and Tikal have good trips, but Guatemala is not an easy country. Homicides rose about 10% in 2025 to some 17 per 100,000, gangs extort buses and shops, armed robbers target tourist routes, and Fuego, Central America's most active volcano, forced evacuations again in August 2026.

    Score 49, grade D

  7. Honduras

    Honduras is less violent than a decade ago, but its 2025 homicide rate of about 26 per 100,000 is still among the highest in the Americas. Most visitors stick to the Bay Islands and Copán and have no trouble. The US says reconsider travel, and a state of exception covers most municipalities.

    Score 45, grade D

Which countries are on this list

The rule is the isthmus: the seven countries between Mexico and Colombia, all of which we score. Some lists add Mexico, because the UN's statistical grouping places it in a Central America subregion, but Mexico is a North American country and we leave it out. Its page has its own score and the state-level advice. Caribbean islands such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic are not part of Central America either.

How the order is built

Every country has its own page with six scored factors. Violent crime carries 25%, conflict and terrorism and road safety 20% each, health 15%, and natural hazards and petty crime 10% each. The list sorts those scores from the highest down and moves whenever we update a country page. The rubrics are on how we score countries.

A country's overall score can never be more than 35 points above its conflict score. In Central America the cap does not bind. There is no war in the region, and the violence that dominates the scores is gang crime, which counts under violent crime.

What the top countries have in common

Panama, El Salvador and Costa Rica have no armed conflict, but each is strong in a different place. Panama's roads are much safer than its neighbours', about 5 deaths per 100,000 against 12 to 20 elsewhere in the region. El Salvador's murder count has collapsed since 2022. Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, has no history of terrorism and has some of the best medical care in the region.

Costa Rica is the surprise for many readers. Its Homicide 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, 16.7 per 100,000 in 2025, is higher than Panama's, and its roads are among the deadliest in the region, so it does not lead despite its reputation.

Why some countries are lower

Belize has a Homicide 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 21.8, centred on Belize City's Southside, plus hurricanes and limited medical care. Nicaragua is low because of political risk rather than street crime: the US rates it Level 3 over wrongful detention. Guatemala combines gang extortion, armed robbery on tourist routes and Central America's most active volcano. Honduras still has one of the highest homicide rates in the Americas, about 26 per 100,000 in 2025, and a state of exception covers most of its municipalities.

What the score does not tell you

In this region, crime is concentrated. Gang killings happen mostly in certain city districts and towns, while islands, ruins and beach towns see far less. The score also does not measure civil liberties: El Salvador's low murder count comes with mass arrests, and its page sets out both. Check the official advice for the exact places you plan to visit. On Costa Rica's coasts, where many beaches have no lifeguards, ask locally before you swim.

Questions

What is the safest country in Central America?

Panama, El Salvador and Costa Rica lead the list, ahead of the other four. Panama has the safest roads in the region by far, about 5 deaths per 100,000 people (WHO, 2023), though gang killings keep its Homicide 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 near 13. El Salvador now records very few murders, and Costa Rica has calm politics and good hospitals but a homicide rate near its record.

Is Costa Rica safe to visit?

Most visitors to its beaches and cloud forests have no trouble, and the US rates it Level 2. Homicides stayed near record highs in 2025, at 16.7 per 100,000, but most are gang killings in parts of San José, Limón and Puntarenas. The risks visitors actually meet are car theft and rip currents, which drown 50 to 60 people a year, about a third of them tourists. See the Costa Rica page.

Is El Salvador safe to visit now?

For most visitors, yes. The government recorded 82 murders in 2025, about 1.3 per 100,000, on a narrow count that leaves out police killings and deaths in prison, and the US rates El Salvador Level 1. The state of exception behind the drop has run since March 2022 with more than 90,000 detentions, and the FCDO 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 police may detain suspected gang members. Roads are the bigger risk, about 20 deaths per 100,000 (WHO, 2023).

Is Mexico in Central America?

Geographically, no. Mexico is usually counted as part of North America, and Central America as the seven countries south of its border with Guatemala and Belize. The UN's statistical grouping puts Mexico in a Central America subregion, which is why some lists include it, but we keep it out. Our Mexico page covers its state-by-state travel advice.

Is Belize safe for tourists?

Most visitors to Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Placencia and San Ignacio have no serious trouble, and the US rates Belize Level 2. Gang violence centred on Belize City's Southside gives the country a Homicide 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 21.8 per 100,000 (2025), and the US rates that district Level 3. Hurricanes threaten from June to November.

Is Guatemala safe to visit?

Most trips to Antigua, Lake Atitlán and Tikal go well, but the US says reconsider travel. Homicides rose about 10% in 2025, to some 17 per 100,000, armed robbers target tourist routes, and Volcán de Fuego forced more than 1,700 people from their homes in August 2026. For Tikal, robberies on Petén roads are the reason to fly to Flores or take an established shuttle in daylight.

Is Nicaragua safe to visit?

Violent crime against visitors in Granada, León, San Juan del Sur and Ometepe is fairly low. The real risk is political. The US rates Nicaragua Level 3 because of wrongful detention, UN experts document enforced disappearances and expulsions of critics, and the UK has no embassy there.