A recent analysis of city crime indices has identified the South African city of Pietermaritzburg as the most dangerous in the world, with a score of 82.8 out of 100. The ranking was derived from resident surveys conducted across 411 cities worldwide.
Pretoria, Caracas, and Port Moresby follow closely, scoring 81.8, 81.4, and 81.3 respectively. Johannesburg ranks fifth with a score of 80.8.
Half of the top ten most dangerous cities are located in South Africa, underscoring the country’s high crime rates.
In Canada, Surrey, British Columbia, tops the list with a score of 63.5, followed by Lethbridge and Red Deer in Alberta, both scoring 63.1 and 63.0.
Sudbury, Ontario, holds the highest crime index in the province at 62.5. Other Ontario cities in the top 200 include Windsor, St. Catharines, London, Brampton, Hamilton, and Oshawa, with scores ranging from 46.5 to 60.2.
The safest Canadian cities are Quebec City, Oakville, and Markham, scoring 22.4, 25.9, and 27.2. Toronto ranks 12th in safety with a score of 43.5.
Kelowna, British Columbia, moved into the global top ten, ranking eighth worldwide and rising from 48.2 in 2019 to 62.1 in 2026—a 13.9 point increase.
Minsk, Belarus, experienced the largest jump in crime index among the top five, climbing from 23 in 2019 to 49.9 this year, a rise of 26.9 points.
The United Arab Emirates tops the list of safest cities, with Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Sharjah, Doha, and Dubai scoring between 11.1 and 16.1.
