Country safety profile

Is Lebanon safe to visit?

This briefing uses the latest Global Peace Index country data as a broad signal, not a substitute for current government advisories. Use it to understand the overall climate before you layer in local events, route decisions, and seasonal context.

Low PeaceRank #136Overall score 2.674Safety & Security 2.779

Back to Travel Safety Open Travel Checklist

Regional context

How Lebanon fits within the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean

The Levant and Eastern Mediterranean require a closer read than many leisure regions. Highly visited cities and heritage sites can sit within the same country as sensitive borders, military restrictions, or fast-moving political events.

Travelers often need to separate what is manageable in core urban or tourist areas from what is not sensible near frontier zones or during escalations. Border-adjacent planning, photography rules, and live advisory checks matter here.

Lebanon's overall score sits close to the the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean average of 2.778, so regional travel habits and country-level route choices matter about equally here. Lebanon lands around the middle of the current regional comparison.

Within the three GPI domains, conflict exposure is the part of Lebanon's profile that deserves the closest read. For travelers, that usually means paying closer attention to border zones, protest or disruption windows, and whether the route needs extra contingency space.

Regional snapshot

Region: the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean
Macro area: Middle East
Regional average: 2.778 / 5
Regional position: #2 of 7
Standing: Near the regional midpoint

Planning cues for the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean

Keep routes away from border zones and restricted military areas unless there is a clear reason not to.
Expect the practical travel picture to change faster than long-form guide content can keep up.
Treat demonstrations, closures, and checkpoint patterns as part of itinerary design.

Overall Indicator

2.674/ 5

A composite index measuring the peacefulness of countries made up of 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators each weighted on a scale of 1-5. The lower the score the more peaceful the country.

Domestic & International Conflict

3.051/ 5

Safety & Security

2.779/ 5

Militarisation

2.049/ 5

Indicator breakdown

Tap a row for the source description

+Perceptions of Criminality

Level of perceived criminality in society

3.4/ 5

Level of perceived criminality in society. Source: Gallup World Poll, IEP estimates

+Police Rate

Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people

3.52/ 5

Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people. Source: UNODC CTS

+Homicide Rate

Number of homicides per 100,000 people

2.054/ 5

Number of homicides per 100,000 people. Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (CTS); EIU estimates

+Incarceration Rate

Number of jailed population per 100,000 people

2.119/ 5

Number of jailed population per 100,000 people. Source: World Prison Brief, Institute for Criminal Policy Research at Birkbeck, University of London

+Access to Small Arms

Ease of access to small arms and light weapons

4/ 5

Qualitative assessment of ease of access to small arms and light weapons by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

+Intensity of Internal Conflict

Level of organised conflict (internal)

4/ 5

Qualitative assessments of the intensity of organised internal conflict by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

+Violent Demonstrations

Likelihood of violent demonstrations

2/ 5

Violent demonstrations. Source: Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED); IEP

+Violent Crime

Level of violent crime

4.5/ 5

Qualitative assessment of level of violent crime by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

+Political Instability

Political instability

4.5/ 5

Qualitative assessment of political instability by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

+Political Terror Scale

Political Terror Scale

2.5/ 5

Political Terror Scale. Source: Gibney, Mark, Linda Cornett, Reed Wood, Peter Haschke, Daniel Arnon, and Attilio Pisanò. 2021. The Political Terror Scale 1976-2019. Date Retrieved, from the Political Terror Scale website: http://www.politicalterrorscale.org.

+Weapons Imports

Imports of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people

1.338/ 5

Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as recipient (imports) per 100,000 people. Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfers Database

+Terrorism Impact

Terrorist Activity

1.495/ 5

Calculation based on a weighted average of the last five years of the number of incidents, injuries, hostages and fatalities by terrorism. Source: Global Terrorism Index (GTI), IEP

+Deaths from Internal Conflict

Number of deaths from organised conflict (internal)

3.814/ 5

Number of deaths from internal organised conflict. Source: UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset

+Military Expenditure (% GDP)

Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP

1.483/ 5

Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP. Source: The Military Balance, IISS, EIU estimates

+Armed Services Personnel Rate

Number of armed services personnel per 100,000 people

2.571/ 5

Number of armed services personnel per 100,000 people. Source: The Military Balance, IISS

+UN Peacekeeping Funding

Funding for UN peacekeeping missions

2.953/ 5

Financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions. Source: United Nations Committee on Contributions; IEP

+Nuclear and Heavy Weapons

Aggregate weighted number of heavy weapons per 100,000 people

1.047/ 5

Nuclear and heavy weapons capabilities. Source: Military Balance+, IISS; IEP

+Weapons Exports

Exports of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people

1/ 5

Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as supplier (exports) per 100,000 people. Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database

+Refugees and IDPs

Number of displaced people as a percentage of the population

1.043/ 5

Number of refugees and internally displaced people as a percentage of the population. Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Mid-Year Trends; Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)

+Neighbouring Countries Relations

Relations with neighbouring countries

5/ 5

Qualitative assessment of relations with neighbouring countries by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit

+Deaths from External Conflict

Estimated number of deaths from organised conflict (external)

1/ 5

Number of deaths from external organised conflict. Source: UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset

+External Conflicts Fought

Number, duration and role of external conflicts fought

1/ 5

Number, duration and role in external conflicts. Source: UCDP Battle-Related Deaths Dataset; IEP

+Internal Conflicts Fought

Number and duration of internal conflicts

1.737/ 5

Number and duration of internal conflicts. Source: Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) Battle-Related Deaths Dataset, Non-State Conflict Dataset and One-sided Violence Dataset; Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)