Europe’s top 20 most crime-ridden cities have been listed, with a staggering three UK cities making the top five with high ratings in several categories.
Europe may be a hit with tourists over its different cultures and climates, but it is inevitable that some have some dangerous elements to them. Factors contributing to these statistics include robberies, drugs, assaults and knife crime.
Only seven countries make up the top ten spots, the majority having two each. However, two countries stand out the most, with six French cities and five UK, but three British can be found in the top five alone.
Bradford was rated the most dangerous city in Europe, with an overall crime index – a snapshot at a specific time – of 67.7. Generally, those with figures under 20 are deemed fairly safe.
In October 2023, the national crime rate was 184 percent compared to England as a whole, according to stats from the National Statistics Data provided by Plumplot. There were 158 crimes per 1,000 people in 2023, 23 percent higher than the West Yorkshire rate.
Drugs, prostitution and violent crime were named as the main lawbreaking types, as well as the city being a hotspot for rapes and sexual assaults, with a worrisome 24,516 offences recorded in 2023.
Specifically, the level of crime and worries about being mugged or robbed were rated 72.72 and 65.47 respectively, both classified as “High”.
Comments on the city included statements such as: “Very unsafe at night. Sadly, it has become a city where anyone can do whatever they want.”
Coventry and Birmingham took third and fourth respectively, both with indexes above 63, with drug and knife crime being particularly high.
In Coventry, there were 126 crimes per 1,000 people in 2023. Knife crime is an increasing problem and the number of violent and sexual offences in 2023 was recorded at 16,323.
Birmingham was described as the most dangerous major city in the West Midlands. It recorded 137 crimes per 1,000 people in 2023, 16 percent higher than the West Midlands rate.
One person commented that “there have been times when this city with 2 million people [has] more murders than London in total.”
Manchester and London, in spots 15 and 17 respectively, brought the total number of UK cities on the list to five.
France was named the country with the most cities in the top 20. This included Marseille, which secured second place overall, as well as Montpellier, Grenoble, Paris, Nice and Lyon.
Marseille is notorious for its drug war. Marseille’s public prosecutor reported an ‘all-time high’ of 47 deaths and 118 injuries related to drug trafficking, describing 2023 as the city’s “deadliest year”.
Two factions are said to be engaged in a war over real estate and are allegedly responsible for 80 percent of the city’s homicides. Comments about the city include one that said that it was the “sketchiest city I’ve ever been to”.
They added: “My friend had a phone robbed from his hand on the first day, second night after leaving a bar we were surrounded by a huge group of street muggers holding knives.”
The countries of Greece, Belgium and Ukraine each had two cities in the top 20, including Athens, Liege and Odessa. Liege was Belgium’s only city in the top ten, with Brussels in 16th, while Italy also had two but Naples earned fifth place.
Home to one of the oldest crime organisations in Italy – the Camorra – the city was also affiliated with the mafia. Particularly high index ratings including being worried about things being stolen from cars, at 68.90 and vandalism and theft at 69.18.
Comments about this city included one from a previous resident, where they said that Naples was the “unsafest city in Italy… too many attempts of robbery, car theft and violent gangs driving their motorbike on the sidewalks without helmets.”
At the other end of the scale, The Hauge in the Netherlands was voted the safest city in Europe, with a safety index of 79.9, closely followed by Munich in Germany and Norway’s Trondheim, both with an index of 79.2.
Numbeo Current Crime Index by City:
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Bradford, UK
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Marseille, France
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Coventry, UK
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Birmingham, UK
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Naples, Italy
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Montpellier, France
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Liege, Belgium
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Grenoble, France
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Catania, Italy
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Paris, France
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Malmo, Sweden
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Nice, France
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Athens, Greece
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Lyon, France
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Manchester, UK
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Brussels, Belgium
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London, UK
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Dnipro, Ukraine
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Odessa, Ukraine
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Thessaloniki, Greece
