Lagos has emerged as the 27th most crime-prone city worldwide, scoring 69.1 points on the 2026 Numbeo Crime Index.
The ranking, which assessed 406 cities across the world, also gave Nigeria’s commercial hub a safety index of 30.9 points.
According to the Numbeo index, which evaluates perceived crime rates and safety levels in different cities, Lagos falls within the high-crime category, covering scores between 60.01 and 80.
The report, obtained by PUNCH Online from Numbeo’s website on Saturday, identified Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and Caracas in Venezuela as the world’s most crime-prone cities, with both recording 81.4 points.
Pretoria, South Africa, came next with 81.3 points, followed by Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg, also in South Africa, with 81.1 and 80.8 points, respectively.
Other cities featuring in the top 10 were Durban, South Africa, with 80.5 points; San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with 79.9 points; Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with 78.3 points; Memphis, United States, with 78 points; and Salvador, Brazil, with 76.7 points.
Lagos also ranked above several prominent international cities, including Oakland, New Orleans, Marseille and Mexico City, which recorded crime indices of 68.6, 67.7, 67.1 and 66.1 points, respectively.
The assessment further indicated that Lagos had a lower safety rating than Nairobi, Kenya, which recorded a crime index of 58.8 and a safety index of 41.2.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates emerged as the safest city among the 406 locations surveyed, recording the lowest crime index of 11.2 points and a safety index of 88.8.
Ajman, also in the UAE, followed with 12 points, while Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Doha recorded 14.7, 15.3 and 15.4 points, respectively.
Providing details about its assessment process, Numbeo said, “Crime Index estimates the overall level of crime in a city or country.”
The platform explained that its index relies on survey responses measuring people’s general perception of crime, their sense of security during daytime and nighttime, and their concerns about particular criminal activities.
It also considers concerns about “mugging, robbery, car theft, physical attacks, public harassment, and bias-motivated incidents”, alongside property-related and violent crimes.
On its data collection process, Numbeo stated, “The data in this section is derived from surveys answered by website visitors, structured similarly to established scientific and governmental surveys.”
It explained that responses from individual participants were converted into numerical scores ranging from -2, representing a strongly negative perception, to +2, indicating a strongly positive perception. These values were subsequently adjusted to a scale of zero to 100.
Numbeo added that it uses spam-detection systems to filter out submissions from individuals displaying suspicious behaviour. It also applies a minimum contributor requirement when selecting cities to improve the statistical reliability of its findings.
The platform noted that its current index undergoes continuous updates using information gathered over the previous five years, while its semi-annual index is reviewed twice yearly, incorporating recent submissions into existing historical records.
However, Numbeo emphasised that its findings should not be interpreted as official government crime statistics.
“It’s important to note that the Numbeo’s Crime Index is based user-contributed perceptions, which may differ from official government statistics,” the platform stated.
It described the index as a comparative resource for evaluating the relative safety of cities and countries, allowing people to understand how crime levels are perceived across different locations.
Numbeo further highlighted that variations in crime-reporting procedures, potential manipulation or underreporting of official figures, and inadequate access to crime statistics in some countries could influence comparisons based exclusively on government records.