Gothenburg scores 84 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 406 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 Gothenburg safe?

Sweden · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

84.1Very high · rank 406 / 6,168
safer than 93% of ranked cities

Gothenburg is a city in Sweden, home to about 563k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 406 of 6,168, with a safety score of 84.1 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 Sweden are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Gothenburg really?

No published homicide figure exists for Gothenburg itself, so the national rate stands in: Sweden recorded 0.9 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Sweden is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 29.3), 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 Sweden at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-05-17). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Sweden 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 Sweden

Terrorism in Sweden · Political demonstrations · Protecting your belongings · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Arctic travel

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 0.9 /100knational rate, 2024
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 29.3country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.959country, 2023
Income: $76,090/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 563kurban centre · 3,391/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 3.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 76/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 87/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 80/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 2.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.92Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 5.3 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 4.4 doctors /1k1.9 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Sweden

Flood: 6.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%74

Peace25%100

Equality25%79

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 Gothenburg that gives 84.1/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Gothenburg compared with Copenhagen

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

Nearby cities

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