Czech Republic and Poland have among lowest homicide rates in the EU

Prague, Czech Republic – According to Eurostat, the Czech Republic boasts among the lowest homicide rates in the EU.

With 0.6 police-recorded intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, the Czech Republic has the second lowest rate of criminal offences, tied with Italy, and topped only by Luxembourg (0.3 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants). According to the Global Peace Index 2019, the Czech Republic more broadly ranks as the 10th safest country in the world.

Poland also appears as one of the safest countries in the bloc, with 0.7 homicides / 100,000 inhabitants – tied at the third place with Portugal, Greece, Austria and Spain.

With respectively 1.6 and 1.5 intentional homicides per 100,000 people in 2017, Hungary and Slovakia don’t fare as well as their two Central European neighbours.

In 2017, Eurostat recorded a total of 5,200 police-recorded intentional homicides across the EU, a reduction of 19% since 2008. That same year, the EU’s statistical office recorded over 1.1 million assaults – figures that include threats, minor assaults, as well as lethal and sexual assaults.

The highest homicide rates were found in the Baltic countries – Latvia (5.6 per 100,000), Lithuania (4) and Estonia (2.2) – followed by Malta (2) and Belgium (1.7).

Eurostat figures from last year had shown that Visegrad nations are among the least dangerous countries in Europe.