City Travel Stats

Bruges

Belgium · Europe

92Safety indexLower concern
2US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution
2CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution
1GB flagUK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions
1AU flagSmartraveller (AU)Level 1 · Normal precautions
5/5metric categories covered
Open comparison
51.21°, 3.22°
Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Bruges scores 92 out of 100, safer than 70% of the cities we score.

The homicide rate is 0.3 per 100,000, roughly 0.2 times the median for the cities we track, and recorded robbery is 32.4 per 100,000. Both cover the wider metro area and were calculated by us from a count and a population, and the robbery figure, from police records, counts only reported incidents. The four governments differ on framing: the US and Canada set Belgium at their second advisory level, increased caution, while the UK and Australia keep it at their lowest. In survey results, 64.3% of people said they feel safe walking alone at night, though that figure is national rather than specific to Bruges. Advisories for Belgium also flag pickpocketing and scams aimed at travellers.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern
Violent crimeRobbery & theftTravel advisory
Violent crime1
Robbery & theft6
Travel advisory33
The radar shows the three sourced, comparable risk measures (homicide, robbery, the strictest travel-advisory level). Tourist petty-crime signals are a different kind of measure — how often advisories mention them — so they are shown as rows under Tourist-specific incidents, not as radar axes.

Homicide / general violence

Intentional homicides (per 100,000)
0.3/100k
Figure is for Arr. Brugge (metro area), wider than Bruges itself.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 1 (count, 2024) ÷ 287333 population (Eurostat — Population on 1 January by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjanaggr3), 2024) × 100k.

Primary source: Eurostat — Police-recorded offences by NUTS 3 region (crim_gen_reg; source data: Police Fédérale / Federale Politie, Belgium)

Where this sits on the scaleLow
01·3·8·20·40 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 96% of tracked cities
0.3/100k
0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)
32.4/100k
Police-recorded robbery undercounts true incidence — a share of robberies go unreported. Read this as recorded robbery, not total robbery.
Figure is for Arr. Brugge (metro area), wider than Bruges itself.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 93 (count, 2024) ÷ 287333 population (Eurostat — Population on 1 January by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjanaggr3), 2024) × 100k.

Primary source: Eurostat — Police-recorded offences by NUTS 3 region (crim_gen_reg; source data: Police Fédérale / Federale Politie, Belgium)

Where this sits on the scaleLow
040·120·250·400·600 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 77% of tracked cities
32.4/100k
0.4/100k safest3097.8/100k

Travel advisories

U.S. State Department
2US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: U.S. Department of State — Belgium Travel Advisory

Global Affairs Canada
2CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — Belgium Travel Advice and Advisories

UK FCDO
1GB flagUK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: UK FCDO — Belgium travel advice

Smartraveller (Australia)
1AU flagSmartraveller (AU)Level 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — Belgium travel advice

Perceived safety

How safe people say they feel, from official population surveys — a separate signal, not part of the Safety Index.
Feel safe walking alone at night
National survey
64.3%feel safe
64.3% of people surveyed · Belgium · 2024
Survey figure is for Belgium (country), wider than Bruges itself.

Primary source: UN SDG 16.1.4 — feel safe walking alone at night (UNODC)

Report crime, violence or vandalism in their area
National survey
12.4%report a problem
12.4% of people surveyed · Belgium · 2023
Survey figure is for Belgium (country), wider than Bruges itself.

Primary source: Eurostat — Crime, violence or vandalism in the area (EU-SILC)

Tourist-specific incidents

How often government travel advisories mention each — a source-consensus signal, not a risk rate.
Pickpocketing & petty theft in travel advisories
3 of 3 advisories mention this
project-atlas count: 3 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — Belgium travel advice (Safety and security)

Scams & fraud in travel advisories
2 of 3 advisories mention this
project-atlas count: 2 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — Belgium travel advice (Safety and security)