City Travel Stats

Cologne

Germany · Europe

81Safety 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
50.94°, 6.96°
Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Cologne scores 81 out of 100 in our index, placing it safer than about 48% of the cities we score.

The homicide rate is listed as 0.55 per 100,000, well under the median, though the underlying definition differs from what we use elsewhere, so cross-city comparison needs care. Recorded robbery is 124.34 per 100,000, and police data captures reported incidents only, so read it as a floor. The four governments we track disagree on Germany: the US and Canada set it at their second level, increased caution, while Britain and Australia keep it at their lowest. All four advisories flag pickpocketing and scams for visitors. In a national survey, 72.1% of people said they feel safe walking alone at night, a figure covering the country rather than Cologne specifically.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern
Violent crimeRobbery & theftTravel advisory
Violent crime1
Robbery & theft23
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)
0.55/100k
PKS records "Mord, Totschlag und Tötung auf Verlangen" as CASES including attempts (Versuche are 55–94 % of recorded cases). To compare with UNODC ICCS 0101 completed intentional homicide, project-atlas subtracted attempts and scaled the recorded-crime rate (HZ) by the completed share. Headline = completed homicides per 100,000.

Primary source: Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) — Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik (PKS), Grundtabelle Fälle/Häufigkeitszahl, Städte

Where this sits on the scaleLow
01·3·8·20·40 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 84% of tracked cities
0.55/100k
0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)
124.34/100k
Police-recorded robbery (PKS erfasste Fälle) undercounts true incidence — a share of robberies go unreported. Read this as recorded robbery, not total robbery.

Primary source: Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) — Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik (PKS), Grundtabelle Fälle/Häufigkeitszahl, Städte

Where this sits on the scaleElevated
040·120·250·400·600 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 33% of tracked cities
124.34/100k
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 — Germany Travel Advisory

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

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

UK FCDO
1GB flagUK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: UK FCDO — Germany travel advice

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

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — Germany 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
72.1%feel safe
72.1% of people surveyed · Germany · 2020
Survey figure is for Germany (country), wider than Cologne 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
10.7%report a problem
10.7% of people surveyed · Germany · 2023
Survey figure is for Germany (country), wider than Cologne 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 — Germany 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 — Germany travel advice (Safety and security)