Methodology

How the Sicuro Live Travel Risk Map is built, where the data comes from, and what it is and isn't useful for.

Last reviewed: 15 May 2026

How we calculate the risk level

Every country on the map shows a single risk level from 1 to 4. By default that number is the higher of the two most widely-used English-language government advisories: the US State Department and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

If, for example, the US State Department rates a country at Level 2 while the UK FCDO rates it at Level 3, we show Level 3. If only one of the two has rated the country, we use that source's level. If neither has, we show "No data".

We use the max rather than an average because risk decisions should reflect the most cautious assessment available. A trip is no safer because one government is relaxed when another is concerned.

All four governments grade by region. The US State Department issues one headline level but routinely calls out sub-national zones ("Do Not Travel to…", "Reconsider Travel to…"), and the UK FCDO frequently advises against travel only to parts of a country (for example Egypt's Sinai or the Saudi–Yemen border) while the rest carries no restriction. To avoid painting a whole country at the level of its single worst border zone, we read a whole-country (general) level for the US and UK — the level that drives the map fill and the composite above — and surface any higher-risk zones separately as a marker and note. A genuine whole-country danger (an FCDO "advise against all travel" covering the entire country, or wording such as "all other regions") always stays in the general level, so the split never under-grades a country.

France Diplomatie and Germany's Auswärtiges Amt apply markedly more conservative criteria, so we keep them as additional context on every country page and report rather than letting them drive the headline level. France colours a country in up to four vigilance zones, and Germany can issue a partial travel warning for part of a country; we read the same whole-country general level for each and surface higher-risk zones separately. The map offers an optional European view that recolours every country to the UK + France + Germany read of those general levels, and drops a marker on countries that also have a higher-risk region.

The four levels follow the US State Department's framework, which most enterprise travel risk teams already use:

• Level 1 — Exercise Normal Precautions. Standard travel precautions apply. Most countries sit here.
• Level 2 — Exercise Increased Caution. Specific identified risks. Plan around them.
• Level 3 — Reconsider Travel. Serious risks. Travel only with strong justification and mitigation.
• Level 4 — Do Not Travel. Severe risk to life or liberty. Travel is strongly advised against.

Where the data comes from

Six government and intergovernmental sources feed the map. We refresh advisories every few hours and disaster and health alerts every 30 minutes.

How the FCDO narrative maps to a level

The UK FCDO doesn't use a numeric scale. We assign a level based on the language and warnings in the country guide:

• No warnings against travel → Level 1
• Specific risks flagged but no broad warning → Level 2
• "Advise against all but essential travel" to parts of the country, or to the whole country in some cases → Level 3
• "Advise against all travel" to the country or large parts of it → Level 4

France's vigilance colours and Germany's warning categories are mapped to the same 1 to 4 scale on equivalent thresholds, applied to the whole country: a formal "advise against all travel" (France) or "Reisewarnung" (Germany) covering the whole country maps to Level 4, a country-wide "all but essential" to Level 3, country-wide heightened vigilance or a security notice to Level 2, and normal vigilance or routine travel advice to Level 1. Where these governments instead flag only part of a country — a red or orange zone in France, or a German partial travel warning (Teilreisewarnung) — that is recorded as a separate regional level shown as a marker on the European map view, not applied to the whole country.

We re-evaluate the mapping rules quarterly and publish changes in the update history below.

ISO 31030 alignment

ISO 31030:2021 is the international standard for organisational travel risk management. The free risk report generated from this tool is structured to align with its core sections so it can sit alongside your own risk register without rework.

The report covers:

• Identification of the threat picture for the destination, drawn from official government sources.
• Analysis of the relative severity, including composite level and active disaster and health alerts.
• Evaluation in plain language, with a recommended decision banner (Travel Permitted, Travel Permitted with Caution, Reconsider, Do Not Travel).
• Treatment suggestions covering pre-travel briefing, insurance, communications, journey management and emergency contacts.
• Monitoring and review triggers, including the last update date for each source.

The report is a starting point for ISO 31030 compliance. It is not, on its own, a complete organisational travel risk management system. Sicuro consultants build bespoke ISO 31030 programmes for clients who need certified compliance.

What this tool is not

To keep expectations honest:

• It is not professional security, medical, legal or insurance advice. Use it as a starting point and verify before travel.
• It is not a real-time alert system. We refresh every 30 minutes from public sources.
• It is not insurance. For corporate, high-risk and short-trip travel cover, see high-risk travel insurance.
• It is not a substitute for an in-country security assessment. A map cannot tell you whether a specific hotel is safe tonight. People on the ground can.
• It does not cover non-state risks at sub-national level. We show country-level composite risk. City-level and corridor-level risk requires bespoke assessment.

Refresh history

The data is refreshed on an automated schedule — government advisories every few hours, disaster and health alerts every 30 minutes. Below is the most recent successful refresh and last attempt for each source.

When to call us

This tool is free, ad-free, and accepts no money for placement or rating. We built it because clients kept asking for a clean way to see the picture in one place. It is free, but built to the same standard as the enterprise travel-risk platforms others pay for — see how it compares and where our paid services step up.

If you need any of the following, we can help:

• A bespoke pre-travel briefing for a specific country or trip
• In-country security, journey management or executive protection
• Crisis response or emergency extraction
• High-risk or specialist travel insurance — see our cover
• An ISO 31030-aligned travel risk programme built for your organisation
• A white-label version of this map for your intranet

Document control

For questions about how we ingest, score or surface data, email commercial@sicurogroup.com.