Paris, Barcelona and Brussels ‘worst European capitals for robberies’

Wikimedia Commons , A1AA1A, CC-Zero

The European cities suffering the most robberies are Paris, Barcelona and Brussels, according to statistics published by Eurostat and the UK police.

In the latest survey covering 2022, Paris ranked first, experiencing 611 such crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Barcelona with 398 thefts and Brussels with 381.

Other French cities appearing on the list included Seine-Saint-Denis (349 per 100,000), Bouches-du-Rhône (207 per 100,000) and Rhône (201 per 100,000) inhabitants.

In Belgium, Liège (215 per 100,000) and Charleroi (201 per 100,000) were also in the top 10. The UK was represented by the West Midlands region (259) and London (257).

There was a notably higher incidence of robberies in Western European metropolitan areas compared to Eastern Europe.

Belgium, Spain, England and Wales were the countries that recorded the highest rates of robberies in Europe, followed by Sweden, France, Portugal and Luxembourg.

These seven countries have significantly more robberies compared to other European countries.

At the lower end, Sweden recorded 62 and Germany 46 per 100,000 inhabitants, ranking them sixth and seventh, respectively.

Eurostat data was based on official police figures from each country and only reported robberies were included so the actual rate could be higher in some areas.

According to the data compiler, a robbery is defined as the act of stealing using physical force, a weapon or a threat, as in cases of mugging or armed theft.

https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/07/paris-barcelona-and-brussels-worst-european-capitals-for-robberies/