Travel Risk Atlas

Eritrea

Eastern Africa · Capital Asmara

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

57.5 Moderate risk
Atlas Risk Score · 188th safest of 220
Fiat Tagliero Building — Eritrea
Photo: sailko / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

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.

Anseba — Essential travel onlyDebubawi Keyih Bahri — Essential travel onlyDebub — Essential travel onlyDebub — Essential travel onlyDebub — Essential travel onlyGash Barka — Essential travel onlyMaekel — Essential travel onlySemenawi Keyih Bahri — Essential travel only1. All land borders — Do not travel1
What governments advise Essential travel only Localised warning — see the notes below

This map reads stronger than the world map's colour, and both are right. The world map shades Eritrea by its Atlas Risk Score — 58, Moderate — which blends government advice with crime, health, roads and natural hazards. This map shows the advice alone, and the strongest level anywhere in Eritrea is “essential travel only”.

What the warnings actually cover

  • 1
    All land bordersDo not travel. Do-not-travel within 25km of every Eritrean land border — with Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti. Tensions with Ethiopia are high and consular support is severely limited; be ready to arrange your own departure.

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.

Road & transport
10% of score
99/100
216th of 220
Crime
15% of score
63/100
199th of 220
Political stability
10% of score
62/100
194th of 220
Health & medical
15% of score
60/100
172nd of 220
Official advisories
25% of score
60/100
192nd of 220
Natural hazards
10% of score · mainly drought
33/100
77th of 220
Conflict & terrorism
15% of score
30/100
123rd of 220

Biggest factor here: road & transport. Road deaths per 100,000 people - the risk travellers most underestimate.

Practical facts

The things worth knowing before you land.

Emergency number
113
Police 113 · Ambulance 122 (Asmara)
Currency
ERN Nfk
Languages
Arabic
English, Tigrinya
Visa (EU passport)
Visa required
US: Visa required · UK: Visa required
Population
3.6m
World Bank 2025
Capital
Asmara
Driving
On the right
37.9 road deaths per 100k
Power
Type C, L
220-240V
Basic water access
52%
Patchy — many households lack it · of residents, not a tap-water verdict
Dialling code
+291
GDP per capita
$689
A rough guide to price levels
Visitors a year
142k
International arrivals, 2016
Malaria risk
9.3/10
INFORM exposure score — see a travel clinic

When to go

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

Mildest and driest around September to March.

Daytime high hot extreme heat
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.

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 Eritrea:

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.