Europe is a vast continent with many different countries meaning that is offers a range of different climates, scenery and lifestyles. All of theses things might influence your decisions on which European countries to visit and especially your decisions about which European countries would make the best homes if you are thinking of migrating.
Just like the climate and cuisine, the European crime rates will also vary from country to country, and this is something you should definitely take into account if you are thinking of moving to Europe. The European crime rates will affect how likely you are to encounter a robbery or a mugging, and how safe you feel at night. It will effect how you feel when you let your children out to walk to school, and whether it’s safe for them to play in the street, and it will even affect the amount of noise and the number of sirens you hear as you are drifting off to sleep. Looking into the European crime rates then is highly important before you choose which country to move to.
For many people thinking of moving to the UK it is important to recognise that Britain has got the worst of all European crime rates. It has the highest level of assaults as well as high rates of car theft, general robbery and pick pocketing. Much of this is put down to the binge drinking culture in the UK which has given those countries a bad name. Changes to the licensing laws have attempted to address this problem but have been largely unsuccessful. The other countries with the highest European crime rates are: Estonia, Holland and Denmark, each of which again have high rates of theft, assault and GTA. The highest rates of sexual violence were reported in: Ireland, Sweden, Austria and Germany.
This makes them slightly less safe to live in, and contrasts them with the countries with the lowest European crime rates: Spain, Hungary, Finland and Portugal. Italy and France also have very low rates of assault.
However it is important to put European crime rates in perspective. First of all, the dangers posed by these crimes is in many cases much less than the dangers caused in politically unstable countries. At the same time it is important to weigh up the European crime rates against other factors such as quality of living, language, climate and employment opportunities and other aspects – it may be that a country with a higher crime rate best fits your requirements despite its crime rate.
Finally, you should be sure to look at the crime rates not just of a country but of specific areas – and any country will have areas with both high and low crime rates if you look around.
