Safety in the eye of the beholder

There is no data proving definitively that Hungary is the safest country in Europe or even in just the 27-member EU. Safety is a complex category, encompassing a variety of crimes from homicide and terrorism, to sexual violence, theft and financial misconduct.

Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, has no single indicator for overall safety, and even within specific crime categories Hungary does not consistently rank at the top, though it performs relatively well in several areas.

As for homicides per 100,000 citizens, Hungary ranks as the 12th safest country, according to Eurostat’s latest (2023) report. Czechia, Croatia and Slovenia, even the Netherlands perform better than Hungary.

Hungary has the second lowest rate of sexual violence, thoughg given Albania ranks best in this category, experts are quick to warn about taking the data at face value, citing the lack of reporting or thorough investigation in many cases.

Hungary fares relatively well in the category of theft, but even here Romania, Czechia, Poland and Slovakia all report lower rates.

In terms of terrorism, Hungary can indeed be considered a safe place. Europol recorded 58 terrorist attacks in Europe in 2024, 34 of which were completed (the rest failed or were foiled), which is a considerable increase from the 14 attacks reported in 2023. The deadliest attacks were carried out by Islamic extremists, altogether killing five people and injuring 18 in 2024. There were 14 EU member states affected, mainly Italy, France and Germany; Hungary was not among them.

Perception-of-safety data offers more nuance. Hungary ranks 8th in the EU in subjective safety, though Czechia, Poland and Romania all scored higher. Where Hungary is a bit of an exception is that in most countries people feel safer in rural areas, whereas Hungarians report feeling more secure in the cities than in the countryside.