Copenhagen scores 80 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 1839 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 Copenhagen safe?

Denmark · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

80.5Very high · rank 1839 / 6,168
safer than 70% of ranked cities

Copenhagen is a city in Denmark, home to about 1.2M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,839 of 6,168, with a safety score of 80.5 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution

Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)

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

How safe is Copenhagen really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Copenhagen recorded 1.4 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2022 - well below the global city median. Denmark is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 29.9), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Denmark at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2024-09-16). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Denmark 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 Denmark

Terrorism in Denmark · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Dress code · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Bicycles and scooters · Arctic travel · Greenland · The Faroe Islands

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 1.4 /100kcity-measured, 2022
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 29.9country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.962country, 2023
Income: $85,460/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 1.2Murban centre · 4,210/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 3.7 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 79/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 91/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 89/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 1.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.94Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 7.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 4.5 doctors /1k2.4 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Denmark

Drought: 2.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%66

Peace25%100

Equality25%78

Development10%96

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 Copenhagen that gives 80.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Copenhagen compared with Gothenburg

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Copenhagen, red favours Gothenburg.
Measure	Copenhagen	Gothenburg	Difference
Safety score	80.5	84.1	−3.6 — better for Gothenburg
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	1.4 /100k	0.9 /100k	+0.5 /100k — better for Gothenburg
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0
Income inequality (Gini)	29.9	29.3	+0.6 — better for Gothenburg
Human development (HDI)	0.962	0.959	+0.003 — better for Copenhagen
Road deaths	3.7 /100k	3.1 /100k	+0.6 /100k — better for Gothenburg
Rule of law	91/100	87/100	+4/100 — better for Copenhagen
Corruption perceptions	89/100	80/100	+9/100 — better for Copenhagen
Air quality (PM2.5)	7.5 µg/m³	5.3 µg/m³	+2.2 µg/m³ — better for Gothenburg
Natural-hazard risk	1.5/10	2.7/10	−1.2/10 — better for Copenhagen

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Gothenburg →

Nearby cities

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