Is Hong Kong safe?
Hong Kong · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Hong Kong is a city in Hong Kong, home to about 4.7M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 6 of 6,168, with a safety score of 95.6 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.
Emergency 999 (ambulance, fire, police)
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Hong Kong are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Hong Kong really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Hong Kong recorded 0.3 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2017 - well below the global city median.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Hong Kong at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2024-11-26). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Hong Kong 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 Hong Kong
Terrorism in Hong Kong · Protests and civil unrest · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Drink spiking and sexual assault · National security laws · Criticising the government · Immigration Ordinance · Public offences · Wildlife, animal products and souvenirs · Illegal drugs · Taking photographs in secure areas · Road travel · Typhoons
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Hong Kong — country-level, not specific to Hong Kong. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 0.3 /100kcity-measured, 2017
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- no datacountry,
- Human development
- HDI 0.955country, 2023
- Income
- $88,500/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 4.7Murban centre · 21,687/km²
- Nearest airport
- 26 kmHong Kong International Airport (HKG) · also SZX, 52 km
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- no dataWHO · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 77/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 73/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 76/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- no dataEU INFORM · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.81Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- no dataPM2.5 annual mean · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.3 doctors /1k4.9 hospital beds per 1,000
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Hong Kong (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Hong Kong; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
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 Hong Kong that gives 95.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Hong Kong compared with Shenzhen
| Measure | Hong Kong | Shenzhen | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 95.6 | 82.7 | +13.0 — better for Hong Kong |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 0.3 /100k | 0.5 /100k | −0.2 /100k — better for Hong Kong |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
| Income inequality (Gini) | no data | 36.0 | — |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.955 | 0.797 | +0.158 — better for Hong Kong |
| Road deaths | no data | 17.4 /100k | — |
| Rule of law | 73/100 | 47/100 | +26/100 — better for Hong Kong |
| Corruption perceptions | 76/100 | 43/100 | +33/100 — better for Hong Kong |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | no data | 32.0 µg/m³ | — |
| Natural-hazard risk | no data | 2.9/10 | — |
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 Shenzhen →
Nearby cities
- Shenzhen, China 82.7
- Yantian District, China 82.7
- Huiyang, China 82.7
- Macau - Zhuhai, Macao 100.0
- Taipa, China 82.7
- Wanqingsha, China 82.7
- Zhongshan, China 82.7
- Huizhou, China 82.7
See Hong Kong on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →