Lisbon scores 74 out of 100 (high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 2918 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 Lisbon safe?

Portugal · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04

74.4High · rank 2918 / 6,168
safer than 53% of ranked cities

Lisbon is a city in Portugal, home to about 1.9M people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 2,918 of 6,168, with a safety score of 74.4 out of 100 - comfortably in the safer part of the ranking.

US 1/4 Exercise normal precautions

Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)

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

How safe is Lisbon really?

The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Lisbon recorded 2.2 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2015 - close to the global city median. Portugal's income inequality is middling (Gini 33.9) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Portugal at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2025-03-02). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Portugal 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 Portugal

Terrorism in Portugal · Political Demonstrations · Strike action · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Attacks and sexual assault · Drink spiking and alcohol · Personal ID · Gambling · Illegal drugs · Local laws governing public behaviour in Albufeira · Festivals, concerts and cultural events · Beaches and swimming · Swimming pools · Beaches · +8 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 2.2 /100kcity-measured, 2015
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 33.9country, 2023
Human development: HDI 0.890country, 2023
Income: $52,240/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 1.9Murban centre · 4,945/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 8.2 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 75/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 75/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 56/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 1.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.86Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 8.8 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 95%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 5.8 doctors /1k3.5 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Portugal

Tsunami: 4.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 3.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 3.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 2.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

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

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

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%58

Peace25%100

Equality25%69

Development10%89

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 Lisbon that gives 74.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Lisbon compared with Porto

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Lisbon, red favours Porto.
Measure	Lisbon	Porto	Difference
Safety score	74.4	82.3	−7.9 — better for Porto
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	2.2 /100k	0.7 /100k	+1.5 /100k — better for Porto
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0

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

Nearby cities

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