The German city of Munich has been named as the eighth-safest city in the world, according to Numbeo's Crime Index 2021. 

Numbeo’s Crime Index 2021

Numbeo’s Crime Index is compiled using data from the local population of cities all across the world, to find out how serious perceived crime and safety levels are. The survey is published semi-annually, and focuses on increases in crime over the past three years, concerns about break-ins, thefts, robberies and being attacked in the city. 

Cities with crime values less than 20 show a low prevalence of crimes, whereas those scoring over 80 have high levels of crime. On the other hand, cities with a security value of less than 20 are relatively unsafe, and those scoring over 80 are among the safest in the world. 

Munich rated one of world's safest cities

Coming in at 8th place overall, Munich scored a very respectable security value of 82,59 in this year's ranking. The state capital of Bavaria scored a security score of 91,09 for walking alone in the city during daylight hours, and 77,61 at night. 

Munich’s highest single crime index was that of property crimes, such as vandalism and theft, but still recorded an overall low level of criminality at 22,47. 

Many of the most unsafe cities are in South Africa and Brazil

While Abu Dhabi landed the top spot for world's most safe city, many of the most unsafe cities were cities in Central and South America, as well as South Africa. 

The most unsafe city in the world according to the 2021 ranking is Caracas, in Venezuela. The country has in recent years been plagued with economic and political instability, and crippling rates of inflation, ultimately fuelling poverty and crime. 

Top ten safest and most unsafe cities in 2021

The top 10 safest cities across the world for 2021, according to Numbeo, are: 

1. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2. Doha, Qatar
3. Taipei, Taiwan
4. Quebec City, Canada
5. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
8. Munich, Germany
9. Eskisehir, Turkey
10. Bern, Switzerland

And the top 10 most unsafe:

1. Caracas, Venezuela
2. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
3. Pretoria, South Africa
4. Durban, South Africa
5. Johannesburg, South Africa
6. San Pedro Sula, Honduras
7. Natal, Brazil
8. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
9. Fortaleza, Brazil
10. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

For more information on how the ranking was compiled, and what each of the countries scored, visit the Numbeo website.