World’s Safest Capital Cities

Four of the world’s safest cities are Middle Eastern or Asian national capitals, namely Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Doha in Qatar, the island-city Singapore and Taipei in Taiwan. Almost a third (30.5%) of the 334 cities ranked by the Numbeo Safety Index are country capitals.

The Numbeo Safety Index is an estimate based on the psychological perception of city residents. That is, index scores reflect the overall crime level in each city based on how safe citizens feel.

Highlighted below are the ten safest national capitals with the corresponding scores for perceived safety from crime.

Top 10 Safest Capital Cities Ranked

The following country capitals are among the safest cities on the planet, places where people believe they are insulated from criminal activities. In addition to their relative placement versus other capitals, shown within brackets is the latest safety score as assessed using Numbeo Saftey Index scores (updated mid-year 2017).

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 86.46 (Safety Index score)
Doha, Qatar: 84.13
Singapore: 83.1
Taipei, Taiwan: 82.62
Bern, Switzerland: 81.53
Tokyo, Japan: 80.62
Hong Kong: 79.93
Tbilisi, Georgia: 79.63
Vienna, Austria: 78.91
Copenhagen, Denmark: 78.73

Honorable mention goes to Estonia’s capital city Tallinn with a safety score of 78.63, followed by Australia’s capital city Canberra at 77.24 points.

In North America, the most psychologically secure capital city is Ottawa, Canada at 76.93. The Canadian capital’s safety index score is far ahead of Washington DC in the United States with 42 points and crime-riddled Mexico City, Mexico rated at just 34.65.

Searchable World’s Safest Capital Cities List

To search the 102 country capitals and their respective Numbeo Saftey Index score, peruse the list below. Note that you may sort columns in ascending or descending order by clicking on a column header. Alternatively, you may enter the city name in the Search box shown.

Rank	Capital City	Safety Index Score
1	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	86.46
2	Doha, Qatar	84.13
3	Singapore	83.1
4	Taipei, Taiwan	82.62
5	Bern, Switzerland	81.53
6	Tokyo, Japan	80.62
7	Hong Kong	79.93
8	Tbilisi, Georgia	79.63
9	Vienna, Austria	78.91
10	Copenhagen, Denmark	78.73
11	Tallinn, Estonia	78.63
12	Canberra, Australia	77.24
13	Ottawa, Canada	76.93
14	Reykjavik, Iceland	76.85
15	Minsk, Belarus	76.37
16	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	75.85
17	Helsinki, Finland	75.36
18	Ljubljana, Slovenia	75.29
19	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	73.84
20	Warsaw, Poland	73.7
21	Baku, Azerbaijan	73.31
22	Manama, Bahrain	73.06
23	Jerusalem, Israel	72.55
24	Zagreb, Croatia	72.36
25	Bucharest, Romania	71.82
26	Seoul, South Korea	71.66
27	Prague, Czech Republic	71.12
28	Muscat, Oman	70.39
29	Yerevan, Armenia	69.85
30	Madrid, Spain	69.33
31	Wellington, New Zealand	68.92
32	Bratislava, Slovakia	68.84
33	Nicosia, Cyprus	68
34	Kuwait City, Kuwait	67.53
35	Colombo, Sri Lanka	67.48
36	Lisbon, Portugal	67.41
37	Vilnius, Lithuania	65.96
38	Kathmandu, Nepal	65.64
39	Amsterdam, Netherlands	63.89
40	Tunis, Tunisia	62.94
41	Belgrade, Serbia	61.7
42	Beijing, China	61.79
43	Riga, Latvia	61.58
44	Budapest, Hungary	61.11
45	Islamabad, Pakistan	60.87
46	Berlin, Germany	57.88
47	Tirana, Albania	57.51
48	Ankara, Turkey	56.38
49	Amman, Jordan	56.18
50	Porto, Portugal	55.99
51	Chisinau, Moldova	55.54
52	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia	55.36
53	Sofia, Bulgaria	54.91
54	Skopje, Macedonia	54.12
55	Moscow, Russia	54.79
56	Sarajevo, Bosnia And Herzegovina	53.57
57	Oslo, Norway	53.52
58	London, United Kingdom	52.93
59	Stockholm, Sweden	51.49
60	Bangkok, Thailand	51.61
61	Panama City, Panama	51.17
62	Kiev, Ukraine	50.79
63	Beirut, Lebanon	50.61
64	Santiago, Chile	50.49
65	Hanoi, Vietnam	50.14
66	Athens, Greece	50.01
67	Algiers, Algeria	48.28
68	Dublin, Ireland	48.02
69	Harare, Zimbabwe	48.02
70	Brussels, Belgium	47.04
71	Jakarta, Indonesia	46.76
72	Paris, France	46.44
73	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	45.68
74	Quito, Ecuador	44.92
75	Tehran, Iran	45.53
76	Rome, Italy	44.14
77	Montevideo, Uruguay	44.04
78	Cairo, Egypt	42.53
79	Baghdad, Iraq	42
80	Washington, DC, United States	41.94
81	Tripoli, Libya	40.31
82	Delhi, India	38.67
83	Manila, Philippines	39.69
84	Guatemala City, Guatemala	37.35
85	Buenos Aires, Argentina	36.97
86	Nairobi, Kenya	35.95
87	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia	35.44
88	Brasilia, Brazil	34.65
89	Mexico City, Mexico	34.45
90	Male, Maldives	34.2
91	Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania	33.22
92	Damascus, Syria	32.96
93	Kingston, Jamaica	31.58
94	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	31.44
95	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	31.31
96	Dhaka, Bangladesh	30.37
97	Lima, Peru	28.55
98	Windhoek, Namibia	26.54
99	San Salvador, El Salvador	26.54
100	Port Of Spain, Trinidad/Tobago	23.44
101	Caracas, Venezuela	17.64
102	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea	16.32

Interestingly, countries home to some of the safest capitals also have among the world’s lowest annual death rates per 1,000 residents. For instance, Qatar has an estimated average 1.5 annual deaths per 1,000 residents–the lowest of any nation. In second place is the United Arab Emirates at 2.0 annual deaths per 1,000 residents.

These lower national mortality rates support the superior Safety Index scores for Qatar’s capital city Doha and Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates.

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, Country Comparison: Death Rate. Accessed on August 10, 2017

Numbeo, Crime Index 2017. Accessed on August 10, 2017

PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP (pwc), Cities of Opportunity 7. Accessed on August 10, 2017