Travel Risk Atlas

Mali

Western Africa · Capital Bamako

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

78.5 High risk
Atlas Risk Score · 216th safest of 220
Great Mosque of Djenné — Mali
Photo: Ruud Zwart / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Where the risk actually is

Risk is rarely spread evenly across a country. The base colour is the code the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives Mali as a whole; shaded regions are those the UK Foreign Office names in an advisory against travel.

Bamako — Do not travelGao — Do not travelKayes — Do not travelKidal — Do not travelKoulikoro — Do not travelKoulikoro — Do not travelMopti — Do not travelSikasso — Do not travelSégou — Do not travelTimbuktu — Do not travelLake Débo
What governments advise Do not travel

This map reads stronger than the world map's colour, and both are right. The world map shades Mali by its Atlas Risk Score — 78, High — which blends government advice with crime, health, roads and natural hazards. This map shows the advice alone, and the strongest level anywhere in Mali is “do not travel”.

What the warnings actually cover

  • Whole countryDo not travel. Governments advise against all travel to the whole country, not to particular regions — so there is no safer part of the map to aim for. Travel insurance is normally void here.

Shading marks whole regions named in an advisory, but a warning is often narrower — a border strip, one road, or a single city. Read the wording, and check the official advisory linked below.

What drives the score

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

Official advisories
25% of score
100/100
219th of 220
Conflict & terrorism
15% of score
93/100
208th of 220
Health & medical
15% of score
80/100
209th of 220
Political stability
10% of score
75/100
213th of 220
Crime
15% of score
67/100
206th of 220
Road & transport
10% of score
58/100
164th of 220
Natural hazards
10% of score · mainly flooding, drought
42/100
141st of 220
Women's safety
not in the score
39/100

Biggest factor here: official advisories. What the US, UK and Dutch governments currently tell their own citizens about travelling here.

Practical facts

The things worth knowing before you land.

Emergency number
17
Police 17 · Ambulance 15
Currency
XOF Fr
Languages
French
Visa (EU passport)
Visa required
US: Visa required · UK: Visa required
Population
25.2m
World Bank 2025
Capital
Bamako
Driving
On the right
22.7 road deaths per 100k
Power
Type C, E
220-240V
Basic water access
86%
Mostly, but not everywhere · of residents, not a tap-water verdict
Dialling code
+223
GDP per capita
$1k
A rough guide to price levels
Visitors a year
217k
International arrivals, 2019
Malaria risk
9.6/10
INFORM exposure score — see a travel clinic

When to go

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

Mildest and driest around October.

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. Mali is big. These numbers describe Bamako only — elsewhere in the country can be nothing like it.

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 Mali:

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.