Travel Risk Atlas

Ecuador

South America · Capital Quito

Each opens that government's own advisory for Ecuador — the authoritative version, updated far faster than this page.

52.2 Moderate risk
Atlas Risk Score · 175th safest of 220
Quito — Ecuador
Photo: Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

Where the risk actually is

Each region is coloured by the advice that applies to most of it, drawn by hand from the wording of all five government advisories. Numbered markers flag localised warnings — usually a border strip or remote interior — that cover only a small part of an otherwise lower-risk region.

Azuay — Travel with cautionBolivar — Travel with cautionCarchi — Travel with cautionCañar — Travel with cautionChimborazo — Travel with cautionCotopaxi — Travel with cautionEl Oro — Essential travel onlyEsmeraldas — Essential travel onlyEsmeraldas — Essential travel onlyGuayas — Essential travel onlyGuayas — Essential travel onlyGuayas — Essential travel onlyImbabura — Travel with cautionLoja — Travel with cautionLos Ríos — Essential travel onlyManabí — Essential travel onlyMorona Santiago — Travel with cautionNapo — Travel with cautionOrellana — Travel with cautionPastaza — Travel with cautionPichincha — Travel with cautionSanta Elena — Essential travel onlySanto Domingo — Essential travel onlySucumbios — Travel with cautionTungurahua — Travel with cautionZamora Chinchipe — Travel with caution1. Colombian border — Essential travel only1
What governments advise Essential travel only Travel with caution Localised warning — see the notes below

This map reads stronger than the world map's colour, and both are right. The world map shades Ecuador by its Atlas Risk Score — 52, Moderate — which blends government advice with crime, health, roads and natural hazards. This map shows the advice alone, and the strongest level anywhere in Ecuador is “essential travel only”.

Overseas territories, shown separately so the main map stays readable

Galápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with cautionGalápagos — Travel with caution
Galápagos · Galápagos · Galápagos

What the warnings actually cover

  • GuayasEssential travel only. Essential travel only across the coastal provinces — Esmeraldas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Guayas, El Oro, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo — where cartel violence has risen sharply. Airside transit at Guayaquil airport is excluded. Quito, Cuenca, the Andes and the Galápagos are not covered.
  • 1
    Colombian borderEssential travel only. Essential-travel-only within 20km of the Colombian border, except the El Ángel reserve, the Rumichaca crossing, Tulcán and the Pan-American Highway.

A numbered marker warns about the small area described in its note — the rest of that region carries the base advice. Mapped by hand from the official wording in July 2026; always check the current advisory before you book.

What drives the score

Each pillar is scored 0–100 against every other country. Longer bar = more risk.

Conflict & terrorism
15% of score
74/100
178th of 220
Crime
15% of score
73/100
212th of 220
Natural hazards
10% of score · mainly earthquakes, tsunami, flooding
65/100
206th of 220
Road & transport
10% of score
51/100
149th of 220
Political stability
10% of score
50/100
153rd of 220
Health & medical
15% of score
41/100
141st of 220
Official advisories
25% of score
30/100
154th of 220
Women's safety
not in the score
96/100

Biggest factor here: conflict & terrorism. Armed conflict, political violence and terrorism exposure.

Practical facts

The things worth knowing before you land.

Emergency number
911
Police, fire and ambulance
Currency
USD $
€1 ≈ 1.15 USD
Languages
Spanish
Visa (EU passport)
90 days visa-free
US: 90 days visa-free · UK: 90 days visa-free
Population
18.3m
World Bank 2025
Capital
Quito
Driving
On the right
20.1 road deaths per 100k
Power
Type A, B
110-127V
Safely managed water
70%
Patchy — many households lack it · of residents, not a tap-water verdict
Dialling code
+593
GDP per capita
$7k
A rough guide to price levels
Visitors a year
2.1m
International arrivals, 2019
Malaria risk
7.4/10
INFORM exposure score — see a travel clinic

When to go

Average daytime high and nightly low for Quito, over 2010-2019. Bars are rainfall; the colour band is how hot the days get.

Mildest and driest around Almost all year.

Daytime high warm
Top figure is the average daytime high, below it the average nightly low, and millimetres of rain under each bar. Figures are the average daytime high; bar heights are the month's rainfall. Shaded months are the mild, drier ones. Source: NASA POWER daily observations, 2010-2019, public domain.

Compare with neighbours

Sources for this page

Vaccinations, malaria and outbreaks. This atlas does not give medical advice — it is personal, it changes, and it is the one thing worth getting from a doctor. Both national services publish current advice for Ecuador:

Check the official advisory before you book. This page reflects data as of August 2026. Advisories change without warning, and only your own government's advice affects your travel insurance.