Brussels scores 78 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 2048 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Brussels safe?

Belgium · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

78.2High · rank 2048 / 6,168
safer than 67% of ranked cities

Brussels is a city in Belgium, home to about 1.4M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 2,048 of 6,168, with a safety score of 78.2 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)

No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Belgium are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Brussels really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Brussels recorded 1.6 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2022 - close to the global city median. Belgium is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 26.8), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.

Brussels also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 2 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Belgium at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-07-22). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Belgium without any avoid-travel warning in force. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.

What to watch out for in Belgium

Terrorism in Belgium · Security awareness · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Taxis · Organised crime · Personal ID · Laws on clothing · Illegal drugs · Visiting battlefields · Road travel · Driving regulations · Low emission zones · Electric scooter regulations

Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Belgium — country-level, not specific to Brussels. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: 1.6 /100kcity-measured, 2022
Conflict deaths: 2within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 26.8country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.951country, 2023
Income: $75,620/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 1.4Murban centre · 6,572/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 5.8 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 68/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 79/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 69/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 2.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.91Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 8.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 3.6 doctors /1k5.4 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Belgium

Flood: 6.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 2.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 1.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Belgium as a whole, not Brussels specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Belgium (as of 2025).

All country-level figures shared by every city in Belgium; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%64

Peace25%88

Equality25%85

Development10%95

One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Brussels that gives 78.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Brussels compared with Antwerp

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Brussels, red favours Antwerp.
Measure	Brussels	Antwerp	Difference
Safety score	78.2	80.9	−2.8 — better for Antwerp
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	1.6 /100k	1.1 /100k	+0.5 /100k — better for Antwerp
Conflict deaths within 100 km	2	2	±0

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Belgium, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Antwerp →

Nearby cities

See Brussels on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Europe → · Full travel briefings →