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Travel safety profile · Middle East

Is Yemen Safe to Visit in 2026?

95 / 100
Very High Risk

Active armed conflict. Humanitarian catastrophe. How we score

⚠ Active conflict / rapidly changing situation

Our static profile may lag events. Always verify against the latest FCDO advisory before travel.

What Warnely Is Tracking

Real-time incidents pulled from the Warnely pipeline. The dashboard renders a richer feed.

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Official Travel Advisories

UK FCDO

See travel advice

Check current advice.

View full advisory →

Yemen compared to your home country

Yemen's composite Warnely risk score is 95/100 (Extreme Risk). Here is how that compares to common home countries for English-speaking travellers. Append ?home=GB (or US, AU, CA, DE) to the URL to pin your home.

United Kingdom 22/100

Yemen is materially riskier than United Kingdom (4.3× riskier on the Warnely index).

United States 35/100

Yemen is materially riskier than United States (2.7× riskier on the Warnely index).

Australia 14/100

Yemen is materially riskier than Australia (6.8× riskier on the Warnely index).

Canada 15/100

Yemen is materially riskier than Canada (6.3× riskier on the Warnely index).

Germany 20/100

Yemen is materially riskier than Germany (4.8× riskier on the Warnely index).

Lower scores are safer. Each home country's score is its own composite on the same 0-100 scale. See methodology.

Risk Breakdown

This is the static baseline rating across six dimensions. The Warnely dashboard adds a live 30-day signal alongside.

Crime5/5

Check FCDO/State Dept for current assessment.

Natural Disasters2/5

Check local conditions.

Health3/5

Consult travel clinic before departure.

Terrorism4/5

Check current advisories.

Civil Unrest4/5

Monitor local situation.

Infrastructure4/5

Check transport options.

Quick Facts

Plug typeA/D/G
Voltage230V/50Hz
Time zoneUTC+3
Driving sideRight
Tap waterUnsafe

Essential Phrases Arabic (Modern Standard)

Hello مرحبا
MAR-hah-bah (or As-salāmu ʿalaikum for Muslim greeting)
Thank you شكراً
SHOOK-rahn
Yes / No نعم / لا
NAH-am / LAH
Sorry / Excuse me آسف (m) / آسفة (f)
AH-sif (m) / AH-si-fah (f)
Help! النجدة!
an-NAJ-dah

Visa & Entry

TypeVisa required (embassy)
LengthVaries
CostVaries

Visa required; most consulates closed. Active war + Houthi-government split. Travel strongly inadvisable.

Verify on IATA Travel Centre →

Summary: Not recommended for travel.

Passport: Valid 6+ months.

Customs: Strict.

Prohibited: Drones, photography of military/ports, alcohol (Houthi north), political literature. Weapons prohibited despite local proliferation.

Practical Tips

  • Do NOT travel to mainland Yemen – severe risk of death or kidnapping
  • Socotra Island (via UAE charters) is a rare exception – unique dragon-blood trees
  • All assistance organizations operate with extensive security protocols
  • Houthi-controlled north has different rules from internationally-recognized government south
  • If caught in conflict, contact your embassy immediately (many have relocated)

Common Scams & Practical Risks

  • General warning: Scams are the least of your concerns. Do not travel to active conflict zones.

Solo & Women’s Safety

Solo Travellers

NOT RECOMMENDED. Do not travel.

Women’s Safety Do Not Travel

Extremely dangerous. Do not travel.

LGBTQ+ Travellers

Legal statusDeath penalty / severe penalty
Social climateHostile

Death penalty under sharia. Active conflict; no visible community. Travel inadvisable.

Verify current law on Equaldex →

Drug Laws

SeverityDeath penalty possible
CannabisSevere penalties

Death penalty on books; war context means due process minimal. Avoid.

Verify on UK FCDO →

Emergency Numbers

police
199
ambulance
191
fire
175
tourist
N/A

If you decide to travel to Yemen

A practical checklist that applies to any trip. Each item links to the part of this guide where the specifics live.

  1. 1
    Check the live advisory Read the UK FCDO and US State Department pages within a week of departure. Advisories change. View current FCDO advisory →
  2. 2
    Register your trip US citizens: enrol with STEP. UK citizens: register your itinerary with the nearest British embassy. Both enable consular contact in an emergency.
  3. 3
    Save the local emergency numbers Police: 199. Ambulance: 191. Pin them in your phone's emergency-contacts screen so they're reachable from a locked phone.
  4. 4
    Insurance with medical evacuation Travel insurance with a medical-evacuation limit of £10m or more. Cheap policies usually exclude or cap medevac, the single most expensive thing that goes wrong abroad. See the medevac entry in the glossary for what to check.
  5. 5
    Confirm vaccinations and prescriptions Visit a travel clinic 4-6 weeks before departure for any routine vaccinations and country-specific recommendations. Check any prescription medication against the destination's import rules.
  6. 6
    Set up a check-in routine before you go Agree a daily or every-other-day check-in time with a contact at home, plus a fallback channel if your primary one fails (WhatsApp goes down in countries that block it). The family communication plan covers the specifics.

Find every foreign embassy and consulate in Yemen in the Warnely embassy directory →

Medical evacuation cost (pre-insurance)

Yemen sits in Band D on Warnely's medevac cost dataset. The figures below are typical pre-insurance ranges in USD, calibrated against published bands from Global Rescue, MedJet, Allianz, and insurance-industry whitepapers.

D
Remote or specialist extraction
Typical $150,000 to $350,000

Remote, very long distance, or active-risk extraction overheads. Specialist teams and bespoke routing push costs to the upper bound and beyond. Trips here should be supported by a duty-of-care provider, not a standard travel-insurance policy.

For the full methodology, the four-band table, and the downloadable CSV, see /methodology/medevac. Sanity-check your travel insurance limit against the high end of this band before booking.

Embed this score

Drop the Yemen Warnely badge on a blog post, country page, or briefing. The image is served straight from the Warnely API and updates whenever the score changes.

Yemen Warnely risk badge

HTML

<a href="https://warnely.com/guides/is-yemen-safe"><img src="https://warnely.com/embed/yemen/badge.svg" alt="Yemen Warnely risk badge" width="360" height="44"></a>

Full embed options including Markdown and iframe variants: /embed/yemen.

Data version v2 · Last reviewed · Next review by · methodology · Found something out of date? Tell us.

Common questions about Yemen

Is Yemen safe for tourists in 2026?

Active armed conflict. Humanitarian catastrophe. Warnely's overall safety assessment for Yemen is Extreme Risk (95/100), very high risk. Always check the latest UK FCDO and US State Department advisories before booking.

What's the crime risk in Yemen?

Check FCDO/State Dept for current assessment. Crime category score: 5/5 (extreme).

Are there health risks travelling to Yemen?

Consult travel clinic before departure. Health category score: 3/5. Consult a travel clinic 4-6 weeks before departure for recommended vaccinations.

Is Yemen safe for solo female travellers?

Do Not Travel. Extremely dangerous. Do not travel.

When is the best time to visit Yemen?

Mild Winter (If Travel Possible) (Oct-Mar). Coastal heat manageable (18-28°C). Highlands cooler. But see critical travel warnings.

What are the drug laws in Yemen?

Drug penalties: Death penalty possible. Cannabis: Severe penalties. Death penalty on books; war context means due process minimal. Avoid.

Do I need a visa to visit Yemen?

Visa required (embassy). Stay length: Varies. Visa required; most consulates closed. Active war + Houthi-government split. Travel strongly inadvisable.

Is the tap water safe to drink in Yemen?

Tap water in Yemen is not safe to drink – use bottled or filtered water. Most travellers should stick to bottled or filtered water for cooking, drinking and ice.

What do governments say about travel to Yemen?

UK FCDO: See travel advice. Read the full advisories on the relevant government sites – links are inside the Official Travel Advisories section above.