City Travel Stats

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia · Asia

93Safety indexLower concern
1US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 1 · Normal precautions
1CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 1 · Normal precautions
2GB flagUK FCDOLevel 2 · Increased caution
1AU flagSmartraveller (AU)Level 1 · Normal precautions
5/5metric categories covered
Open comparison
3.14°, 101.69°
Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Kuala Lumpur scores 93 out of 100 in our composite and ranks safer than about 75% of the cities we score.

The homicide rate is 0.8 per 100,000, roughly half the median for the cities we track, and recorded robbery is 24.1 per 100,000. Both figures are for the city and were calculated by us from a count and a population, with some uncertainty in the population used; the robbery figure is police-recorded and so understates the true total. The US, Canada, and Australia hold Malaysia at their lowest advisory level, while the UK sets it one step higher at increased caution. Advisories flag pickpocketing and scams. In a national survey, 90.5% of people said they feel safe walking alone at night, a figure for the country rather than the city.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern
Violent crimeRobbery & theftTravel advisory
Violent crime2
Robbery & theft4
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)
0.8/100k
The W.P. Kuala Lumpur "All" total folds in the neighbouring federal territory of Putrajaya (carried as a PDRM district here). Both the count and the population denominator include Putrajaya, so the rate is consistent, but the geography is Kuala Lumpur + Putrajaya, not KL city alone.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 16 (count, 2023) ÷ 2124500 population (DOSM — Population Table: Administrative Districts (W.P. Kuala Lumpur 2005700 plus W.P. Putrajaya 118800 — crime total folds in Putrajaya), 2023) × 100k.

Primary source: Department of Statistics Malaysia / PDRM — Crime by district (OpenDOSM)

Where this sits on the scaleLow
01·3·8·20·40 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 73% of tracked cities
0.8/100k
0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)
24.1/100k
PDRM police-recorded crime — reflects reported offences, not total incidence. Read as recorded robbery, not total robbery.
The W.P. Kuala Lumpur "All" total folds in the neighbouring federal territory of Putrajaya (carried as a PDRM district here). Both the count and the population denominator include Putrajaya, so the rate is consistent, but the geography is Kuala Lumpur + Putrajaya, not KL city alone.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 511 (count, 2023) ÷ 2124500 population (DOSM — Population Table: Administrative Districts (W.P. Kuala Lumpur 2005700 plus W.P. Putrajaya 118800 — crime total folds in Putrajaya), 2023) × 100k.

Primary source: Department of Statistics Malaysia / PDRM — Crime by district (OpenDOSM)

Where this sits on the scaleLow
040·120·250·400·600 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 82% of tracked cities
24.1/100k
0.4/100k safest3097.8/100k

Travel advisories

U.S. State Department
1US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 1 · Normal precautions

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

Global Affairs Canada
1CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 1 · Normal precautions

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

UK FCDO
2GB flagUK FCDOLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: UK FCDO — Malaysia travel advice

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

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — Malaysia 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
90.5%feel safe
90.5% of people surveyed · Malaysia · 2021
Survey figure is for Malaysia (country), wider than Kuala Lumpur itself.

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

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 — Malaysia travel advice (Safety and security)

Scams & fraud 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 — Malaysia travel advice (Safety and security)