How safe is Peru? Well, as with any city or country, defining its comparative level of safety is a tricky business. But if you’re looking for a short answer, we can first ask two questions:

Question 1: Should I avoid going to Peru?

Answer: Absolutely not. Peru’s thriving tourist industry is evidence enough of the country’s stability. More than three million tourists visit Peru each year, and the vast majority return home completely unscathed.

Question 2: Should I be concerned about safety in Peru?

Answer: To a certain degree, yes, but there’s no need for paranoia. Simply exercise the same degree of caution as you would anywhere else in the world, depending on your surroundings. This is standard procedure for travelers in any foreign country.

Tourist Deaths in Peru

Death is a terminal thing and obviously best avoided, so let’s have a look at fatalities using travel statistics from the USA. According to travel.state.gov figures (U.S. Citizen Deaths Overseas), there have been 66 reported fatalities (non-natural) of US citizens in Peru between October 2002 and December 2014.

The numbers are low considering that almost half a million US tourists have been coming to Peru each year for the last seven years (with more than half a million in 2014).  

Looking at the causes of death within those 66 cases, we see the following:

• Air accident (8 fatalities) -- Air travel in Peru is safe and air accidents involving major domestic airlines are rare indeed. Five of these eight US fatalities occurred when a helicopter crashed in Yarinacocha, Ucayali, in 2013.

• Suicide (11 fatalities)
• Vehicle accident, car (6 fatalities)
• Vehicle accident, bus (3 fatalities)
• Vehicle accident, motorcycle (2 fatalities)
• Homicide (5 fatalities) -- Four of the five homicides occurred in Lima.
• Drowning (5 fatalities)
• Drug related (2 fatalities) -- One in Lima, one in Pucallpa.
• Other accident (23 fatalities) -- At least six of these fatalities took place in popular mountain climbing regions, suggesting mountaineering-related deaths.

While the travel.state.gov numbers “should not be considered a statistically complete account of U.S. citizen deaths in foreign countries,” they nonetheless paint a picture of the actual risk of death to foreign visitors in Peru. Fatalities are incredibly rare, and those that do occur are not necessarily due to circumstances specific or unique to Peru.

The Real Dangers in Peru

You’ll always be able to find horror stories involving foreign travelers in Peru. A quick internet search will provide tales of robberies, banditry, rapes, vehicle accidents and more. Government travel advisories can also paint a bleak picture.

But, as mentioned earlier, the vast majority of foreign tourists leave Peru with almost overwhelmingly positive experiences and few, if any, tales of woe.

Certain potential dangers, however, do require extra attention:

• Crime -- While violent robberies on tourists are rare, petty theft is rife throughout Peru. Always keep an eye on your belongings, keep them close, and don’t ever leave them unattended. Having your laptop or camera stolen can really spoil your trip, so don’t give thieves the opportunity. Thieves generally look for easy targets, so you can reduce the risk of theft by practicing standard safety procedures. Street crime is most common in large urban areas, particularly in Lima.

• Traffic accidents -- The number of foreign tourists killed in traffic accidents in Peru is low, but Peru does have a terrible record when it comes to road accidents and fatalities. Whenever possible, travel with major bus companies and avoid the less secure and less reliable minor operators.

• Rape -- While not necessarily a greater problem in Peru than elsewhere, female travelers do need to be extra cautious in certain situations that could lead to rape. Drink spiking is used for both robberies and rapes in Peru, so be careful in bars and clubs. Cases of taxi drivers robbing and/or raping foreign female passengers are also reported infrequently, but with enough regularity to make it a genuine concern. For more advice, read Safety Tips for Women Traveling Alone in Peru.

The Bottom Line

As someone who has lived and traveled in Peru since 2009, I do not consider Peru a dangerous country. I’m obviously very familiar with the culture and the territory, but I still exercise the same basic safety precautions now as I did when I first arrived in South America and in Peru.

Understandably, first time visitors might be worried about the level of safety in Peru. But if you exercise the same level of caution -- and common sense -- as you would anywhere else in the world, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at how safe Peru actually is for foreign travelers.