Think twice.
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Karachi at 42/100 for crime — that makes it read about the same as than Pakistan's national picture overall (40/100 vs 40/100).
City page · part of Pakistan
The one number a country page can't give you
What people who actually live in Karachi report
Numbeo aggregates thousands of resident-submitted perception surveys into a per-city Crime Index (higher = worse) and its inverse, a Safety Index — the only real city-granularity crime signal feeding this page, alongside Pakistan's national advisory, political, health, and police-trust data.
Crime Index
57.7
Safety Index
42.3
Sub-scores
Same real inputs as Pakistan's national page, with crime swapped for Karachi's own Numbeo number above.
Local know-how
Staying safe in Karachi, specifically
- • Crime: Since the late 2000s, Karachi has seen many bombings and attacks as well as political and ethnic tensions, since the city has a conspicuous history of problems with terrorism, violent demons…
- • Street crime in Karachi is about what you'd expect in a huge city.
- • The people of Karachi are very hospitable. They tend to welcome any foreigner very warmly, but regardless of how nice someone seems you should remain aware and alert at all times.
- • Women are usually stared at in certain parts of the city, so they should bring along a male relative or friend, to be safe.
- • In general, in Karachi, if you are ever worried about your safety, make a loud scene.
Legal status (national law)
Illegal since 1862 Penalty: 2 years to life sentence (Occasionally enforced).
Source: Wikipedia — LGBTQ rights by country →Pack this, know this
The little things that trip people up
Plug & voltage
C / D / G / M · 230V
Driving side
left
Emergency
police: 15 / ambulance: 115 and 1122 / fire: 16
Cash vs. Card
The national currency of Pakistan is the Pakistani rupee, denoted as Rs (ISO code PKR). The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular: paisa). "5 rupees 75 paise" would normally be written as Rs "5.75". It is always good to have a number of small bills on hand, as merchants and drivers sometimes have no change. A useful technique is to keep small denomination notes (Rs 10-100) in your wall
How this compares to Pakistan
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Karachi at 42/100 for crime — that makes it read about the same as than Pakistan's national picture overall (40/100 vs 40/100).
See the full Pakistan page and all receipts →