Riga

Latvia · Europe

81Safety indexLower concern

U.S. State DeptLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Global Affairs CanadaLevel 1 · Normal precautions

UK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Smartraveller (AU)Level 1 · Normal precautions

5/5metric categories covered

Open comparison

56.95°, 24.11°

Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Riga lands at 81 out of 100 in our index, close to the midpoint of the cities we score.

Its homicide rate is 5.1 per 100,000, about 3.2 times the median for the cities we track; the figure is specific to the city, though we computed the rate ourselves from a count and a population. Robbery is recorded at 34.6 per 100,000, a city-level number that, being police-recorded, understates the true frequency. On advisories there is no disagreement: the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia all keep Latvia at their lowest level. A city survey found 70% of residents feel safe walking alone after dark, a solid figure that sits alongside the moderate crime data.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern

Violent crime10

Robbery & theft6

Travel advisory0

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)

5.1/100k

Rate computed by project-atlas: 31 (count, 2023) ÷ 609489 population (Eurostat — Population on 1 January by age group sex and NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjangrp3), 2023) × 100k.

Primary source: Eurostat — Police-recorded offences by NUTS 3 region (crim_gen_reg)

Where this sits on the scaleElevated

01·3·8·20·40 /100k

Among tracked citiessafer than 31% of tracked cities

5.1/100k

0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)

34.6/100k

Police-recorded robbery undercounts true incidence (not every robbery is reported). Read this as recorded robbery, not total robbery.

Rate computed by project-atlas: 211 (count, 2023) ÷ 609489 population (Eurostat — Population on 1 January by age group sex and NUTS 3 region (demo_r_pjangrp3), 2023) × 100k.

Primary source: Eurostat — Police-recorded offences by NUTS 3 region (crim_gen_reg)

Where this sits on the scaleLow

040·120·250·400·600 /100k

Among tracked citiessafer than 74% of tracked cities

34.6/100k

0.4/100k safest3097.8/100k

Travel advisories

U.S. State Department

U.S. State DeptLevel 1 · Normal precautions

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

Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs CanadaLevel 1 · Normal precautions

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

UK FCDO

UK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: UK FCDO — Latvia travel advice

Smartraveller (Australia)

Smartraveller (AU)Level 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — Latvia 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

City survey

70%feel safe

70% of people surveyed · Riga · 2023

% feeling safe = Eurostat "strongly agree" (18.3%) + "somewhat agree" (51.7%); both are shares of the same respondents (base includes "don't know").

Primary source: Eurostat — Quality of Life in European Cities (Flash Eurobarometer, DG REGIO)

Report crime, violence or vandalism in their area

National survey

5.4%report a problem

5.4% of people surveyed · Latvia · 2023

Survey figure is for Latvia (country), wider than Riga 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 — Latvia 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 — Latvia travel advice (Safety and security)