Zurich

Switzerland · Europe

94Safety 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

47.38°, 8.54°

Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Zurich scores 94 out of 100 in our composite, safer than roughly 78% of the cities we score.

Two figures sit under that. The homicide rate is 0.7 per 100,000, about 0.4 times our median, but it covers the wider canton, we calculated it from a count and a population, and the underlying population figure carries some uncertainty, so read it as an approximate upper bound. Robbery is recorded at 70.32 per 100,000, and this one is specific to the city itself. The four governments we track, the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, all keep Switzerland at their lowest advisory level. In a city survey, 84.2% of residents said they feel safe walking alone after dark, in keeping with the crime data.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern

Violent crime1

Robbery & theft13

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)

0.7/100k

Very low annual counts at canton level — small-number volatility makes the derived per-100k rate noisy year to year.

Figure is for Zürich (state / province), wider than Zurich itself.

Rate computed by project-atlas: 12 (count, 2025) ÷ 1620020 population (BFS — Bilanz der ständigen Wohnbevölkerung nach Kanton (STATPOP/ESPOP) end of 2024 (T 01.02.04.01), 2024) × 100k.

Primary source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Police Crime Statistics (PKS), intentional homicide by canton (cube px-x-1903020100_101)

Where this sits on the scaleLow

01·3·8·20·40 /100k

Among tracked citiessafer than 79% of tracked cities

0.7/100k

0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)

70.32/100k

Primary source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS) — Police Crime Statistics (PKS), robbery (Art. 140) frequency rate by city (T 19.2.1.1.4)

Where this sits on the scaleGuarded

040·120·250·400·600 /100k

Among tracked citiessafer than 51% of tracked cities

70.32/100k

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 — Switzerland Travel Advisory

Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs CanadaLevel 1 · Normal precautions

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

UK FCDO

UK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: UK FCDO — Switzerland travel advice

Smartraveller (Australia)

Smartraveller (AU)Level 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — Switzerland 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

84.2%feel safe

Switzerland average · 80.8%

84.2% of people surveyed · Zurich · 2023

% feeling safe = Eurostat "strongly agree" (46.7%) + "somewhat agree" (37.5%); 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

8.5%report a problem

8.5% of people surveyed · Switzerland · 2023

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