🇵🇹 Portugal — Crime Statistics

National Overview

Portugal has a population of approximately 10,747,336 residents, making it one of the countries in our database with comprehensive crime statistics. In the latest reporting period (2025), a total of 91,371 crimes were recorded across the country's 9 administrative regions, resulting in an overall national crime rate of 850.2 per 100,000 residents. This figure represents the aggregate of all tracked crime categories across all regions and provides a baseline for understanding the country's crime landscape. This page provides a detailed analysis of crime statistics in Portugal, including a safety assessment, crime category breakdowns, regional comparisons, and methodology notes to help contextualize the data.

Safety Assessment

Compared to the 31 countries currently tracked by Map of Crimes, Portugal has a relatively low overall crime rate. Its reported rate of 850.2 per 100K places it in the bottom third of all countries monitored, well below the cross-country median of 1,346.1 per 100K. While a lower overall rate suggests comparatively fewer reported crimes per capita, it is important to consider that reporting practices, policing intensity, and legal definitions of what constitutes a crime vary significantly between jurisdictions. A lower rate may also reflect lower reporting rather than lower actual crime incidence. Nonetheless, within the scope of our data, Portugal's figures indicate a comparatively low level of recorded criminal activity.

Understanding the Numbers

Crime statistics are shaped by many factors beyond the actual incidence of criminal behavior. Reporting rates vary depending on public trust in law enforcement, the accessibility of reporting mechanisms, and cultural attitudes toward involving authorities. Countries with higher policing coverage and stronger institutional frameworks may paradoxically record higher crime rates simply because more incidents are detected and documented. Conversely, countries or regions with weaker reporting infrastructure may show lower rates that do not reflect the true scope of criminal activity. When interpreting the data for Portugal, it is important to consider these systemic factors alongside the raw numbers presented on this page.

Crime Landscape

The crime data for Portugal covers 3 standardized crime categories. Understanding which categories dominate the overall statistics helps provide context about the types of crime most commonly reported in the country. Here is an overview of the crime landscape based on the latest available data.

The most commonly reported crime category in Portugal is assault, with a rate of 532.0 per 100K (57,171 total reported). This category alone accounts for a significant share of all recorded crimes in the country. This is followed by theft at 318.0 per 100K (34,175 reported), which represents the second most frequently recorded type of crime. The least frequently reported tracked category is homicide, at 0.2 per 100K (25 reported). While this category has the lowest rate, it often represents some of the most serious offenses and may be subject to different reporting dynamics.

Regions with Highest Crime Rates

Crime is not evenly distributed across Portugal. Among the country's 9 regions, substantial variation exists. The following areas have the highest overall crime rates, combining all tracked categories:

• Algarve: 1,282.2 per 100K
• Azores: 1,164.6 per 100K
• Setúbal Peninsula: 966.0 per 100K
• Greater Lisbon: 962.1 per 100K
• Alentejo: 819.2 per 100K

Regions with Lowest Crime Rates

At the other end of the spectrum, the following regions in Portugal report the lowest overall crime rates:

• West and Tagus Valley: 673.2 per 100K
• Centro: 681.3 per 100K
• Madeira: 725.4 per 100K
• Norte: 812.9 per 100K
• Alentejo: 819.2 per 100K

The gap between the highest and lowest-rate regions is substantial — Algarve has a crime rate approximately 1.9× higher than West and Tagus Valley, illustrating significant regional variation within Portugal. This variation may reflect differences in urbanization, population density, economic conditions, and policing practices across regions.

Detailed Category Breakdown

The following summarizes the crime breakdown by category for Portugal in the latest reporting period (2025). Each category is listed with its count and rate per 100,000 residents:

• Assault: 57,171 reported (crimes registados), at a rate of 532.0 per 100,000 residents.
• Theft: 34,175 reported (crimes registados), at a rate of 318.0 per 100,000 residents.
• Homicide: 25 reported (crimes registados), at a rate of 0.2 per 100,000 residents.

Data Sources & Methodology

Crime statistics for Portugal are sourced from INE / DGPJ — Registered crimes by NUTS-2024 municipality & crime category. This is an official government data source that publishes crime data at the sub-national level. The primary counting unit for this dataset is crimes registados. The data covers the period ending 2025. The counting unit is important context: countries that count victims may show different figures than those counting incidents or investigations for the same underlying events. Cross-country comparisons should be made with caution, as different countries use fundamentally different counting methods — some count victims, others count incidents, cases, or police investigations. Legal definitions of crime categories also vary. The numbers on this page reflect only crimes reported to and recorded by authorities; the actual incidence of crime may be higher due to underreporting, which varies by crime type and jurisdiction.

Population figures are based on 2025 data from official statistical sources. Crime rates are calculated using the formula: (crime count ÷ population) × 100,000. Rates provide a more meaningful basis for comparison than raw counts, as they normalize for differences in population size. However, rates can be volatile for areas with very small populations, where a few additional crimes can cause large percentage changes.