Highest civil unrest risk countries in 2026

Civil unrest affects travellers more often than any other safety category, and most of the time it never makes the news at home. A general strike that closes airports for two days. A protest in a central square that triggers a citywide curfew. A contested election that becomes running battles outside the hotel. Few travellers are physically harmed by civil unrest, but many have their trips disrupted by it.

These are the countries where the editorial civil-unrest rating is 4 or 5. That rating reflects frequent and predictable disruption rather than occasional flare-ups. Some entries are otherwise stable countries with one or two restive regions. Others are country-wide problems where the disruption is everywhere.