{"id":416,"date":"2016-02-23T09:41:08","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T08:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=416"},"modified":"2025-09-05T15:18:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:18:52","slug":"safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/visitorinfo\/safety\/","title":{"rendered":"How safe is Vienna to visit?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/theft.jpg\" alt=\"Stealing a wallet\" class=\"wp-image-13940\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/theft.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/theft-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Obviously every city has its exceptions. Regarding any potential security issues, for example, consult your embassy or consulate for specific advice. But on a day-to-day basis, Vienna enjoys a positive reputation when it comes to crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>City regularly tops international liveability rankings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/visitor-questions\/\">Common visitor questions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"high-rankings-low-crime\">High rankings, low crime<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/graben1.jpg\" alt=\"View down the Graben\" class=\"wp-image-47732\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/graben1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/graben1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Vienna has over 2 million inhabitants. Add in visitors and commuters and some areas can get very busy. As in every large city: watch your bags)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vienna has a surprisingly low crime rate for a city with over two million inhabitants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This perhaps reflects the country at large: the 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visionofhumanity.org\/maps\/\">Global Peace Index<\/a>, for example, ranked Austria as the fourth most peaceful country in the world, just behind Iceland, Ireland, and New Zealand, and ahead of such countries as Singapore, Denmark and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here some official stats on annual crime trends for those who like numbers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Year on year reported crime in Vienna reached a <a href=\"https:\/\/wien.orf.at\/news\/stories\/2979285\/\">19-year low<\/a> in 2018 with a subsequent slight <a href=\"https:\/\/wien.orf.at\/stories\/3047769\/\">2.6% rise<\/a> in 2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vienna.at\/kriminalitaet-in-wien-2020-wenigste-anzeigen-seit-ueber-20-jahren\/6931204\">fell<\/a> by 12.2% in 2020 and again by <a href=\"https:\/\/wien.orf.at\/stories\/3143248\/\">a further<\/a> 5.4% in 2021 to another long-term low. (Although, to be fair, we had significant periods in lockdown, for example, and far fewer travelers)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reported crime then began its <a href=\"https:\/\/wien.orf.at\/stories\/3197548\/\">&#8220;return to normal&#8221;<\/a> in 2022, rising 16.7% compared to 2021. And <a href=\"https:\/\/wien.orf.at\/stories\/3250438\/\">again<\/a> in 2023, rising a further 10.8% compared to 2022. Things began to level off with a <a href=\"https:\/\/wien.orf.at\/stories\/3301212\/\">4.6% rise<\/a> in 2024 compared with 2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Evidence for Vienna&#8217;s broad safety comes indirectly from its regular high rankings in global quality of life surveys. For example&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eiu.com\/n\/campaigns\/global-liveability-index-2025\/\">Economist Intelligence Unit<\/a> ranked Vienna first in the 2024 Global Liveability index and second in the 2025 report behind Copenhagen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Vienna came top in the 2023, 2022, 2019 and 2018 reports. Regarding the latter, the survey&#8217;s editor was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2018\/aug\/14\/vienna-named-worlds-most-liveable-city-as-melbourne-loses-crown\">quoted<\/a> as saying, &#8220;It&#8217;s proven to be one of the safest cities in Europe&#8221;. The city did drop as far as 12th (the horror!) in the EIU&#8217;s 2021 ranking thanks to the COVID situation in Europe at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vienna came second in the 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/mobilityexchange.mercer.com\/Insights\/quality-of-living-rankings\">Quality of Living rankings<\/a> produced by Mercer. The city had topped the rankings in 2023 for the eleventh time in a row. Zurich took top place in the 2024 list<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2019 Mercer report included a separate ranking for personal safety, where Vienna placed sixth in the world, one spot below Zurich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Monocle magazine also ranked Vienna <a href=\"https:\/\/monocle.com\/minute\/2023\/06\/22\/\">first <\/a>in its 2023 Quality of Life Survey and <a href=\"https:\/\/monocle.com\/minute\/2024\/06\/27\/?c=SpecialEdition\/\">second<\/a> in the 2024 survey (with Munich claiming first place)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">..but still some crime<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite all that good news, you should still take the same care you would when travelling to any large European city, particularly as regards parks, waterways and around transport facilities late at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Crime in Vienna is generally low, but there is still crime. Pickpockets, for example, may be about in busy areas (particularly during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/christmasmarkets\/tips\/\">Christmas markets<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As mentioned earlier, do consult your embassy or consulate for specific advice, especially in the context of any potential security incidents. For example, see the security and safety advice for Austria provided by the <a href=\"http:\/\/travel.state.gov\/content\/passports\/en\/country\/austria.html\">US State Department<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartraveller.gov.au\/destinations\/europe\/austria\">Australian Government<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/foreign-travel-advice\/austria\/safety-and-security\">UK Government<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Obviously every city has its exceptions. Regarding any potential security issues, for example, consult your embassy or consulate for specific advice. But on a day-to-day basis, Vienna enjoys a positive reputation when it comes to crime. High rankings, low crime (Vienna has over 2 million inhabitants. Add in visitors and commuters and some areas can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-visitorinfo","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85561,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions\/85561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}