Which parts of Austria have the highest crime rates?
Austria is generally viewed as a safe country in which to live and work. However, crime still does occur, and it’s important to know where and what kind of crimes are occurring.
According to Statistics Austria, 26,442 convictions were recorded in 2022, a 3.2 percent increase on 2021. While this can partly be attributed to the aftermath of Covid-19 lockdowns, it’s not an insignificant rise.
The overwhelming majority of crimes in Austria constitute property crimes - robbery and theft. 28 percent of all convictions recorded were in this category.
This was followed by crimes to ‘life and limb’ at 18.9 percent - that is to say, those crimes involving violence to a person, such as assault and murder.
The third highest segment of criminal convictions recorded in Austria were for violations of the Narcotic Substances Act, eg. drug-related crimes, constituting 14.7 percent of all convictions.
While all crimes do not result in a conviction, this gives us a good view of the most common kinds of crimes that are occurring.
When we draw data from other sources, we can start to develop a picture of where they are occurring.
According to Statista’s most recent dataset from 2021, the city-state of Wien, or Vienna, leads the other Austrian states with 7.528 crimes recorded per 100,000 inhabitants. This is unsurprising, considering the Vienna’s status as the country’s capital city.
READ MORE: What are the most common crimes in Vienna?
Following Vienna. in second place is the border state of Vorarlberg, with 4.627 crimes recorded per 100,000. This region contains towns such as as Dornbin, Fedkirch and the state capital, Bregenz.
While many factors contribute to the number of crimes, Vorarlberg’s location on the border with Germany, and high tourist trade may be the reason it is placed relatively high.
A relatively high tourist trade may also account for Salzburg’s placing in third, with 4,611 crimes per hundred thousand inhabitants.
Using the cost of living database Numbeo, that collates survey data from a wide variety of sources, we can also pick out how crime is perceived as between Austria’s other major cities.
Klagenfurt led perceptions as being the worst for crime with a Crime Index score of 37.72. Survey respondents listed the perception of crime increasing in the past three years, with fears of being insulted or assaulted, for their ranking.
Linz, capital of Oberösterreich, took second place with a Crime Index score of 30.20. The number of perceived property crimes and drug-related crimes were seen as being responsible for this score.
READ MORE: Who to call and what to say in an emergency in Austria
Lastly, Graz, capital of Steiermark (or Styria) had had a Crime Index score of 26.20. A perceived increase in the number of property and drug-related crimes over the last three years was noted as the reason given by respondents for this score.
Interestingly, Vienna lay behind Klagenfurt and Linz, with a score of 28.93. Enhanced and very visible security measures around the capital may be partly responsible for this discrepancy between these various data sources.
With time, updated data sources will result in a clearer picture of crime in Austria. However, it’s safe to say that the country remains one among Europe’s safest - with a little common sense, there’s nothing to fear.
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According to Statistics Austria, 26,442 convictions were recorded in 2022, a 3.2 percent increase on 2021. While this can partly be attributed to the aftermath of Covid-19 lockdowns, it’s not an insignificant rise.
The overwhelming majority of crimes in Austria constitute property crimes - robbery and theft. 28 percent of all convictions recorded were in this category.
This was followed by crimes to ‘life and limb’ at 18.9 percent - that is to say, those crimes involving violence to a person, such as assault and murder.
The third highest segment of criminal convictions recorded in Austria were for violations of the Narcotic Substances Act, eg. drug-related crimes, constituting 14.7 percent of all convictions.
While all crimes do not result in a conviction, this gives us a good view of the most common kinds of crimes that are occurring.
When we draw data from other sources, we can start to develop a picture of where they are occurring.
According to Statista’s most recent dataset from 2021, the city-state of Wien, or Vienna, leads the other Austrian states with 7.528 crimes recorded per 100,000 inhabitants. This is unsurprising, considering the Vienna’s status as the country’s capital city.
READ MORE: What are the most common crimes in Vienna?
Following Vienna. in second place is the border state of Vorarlberg, with 4.627 crimes recorded per 100,000. This region contains towns such as as Dornbin, Fedkirch and the state capital, Bregenz.
While many factors contribute to the number of crimes, Vorarlberg’s location on the border with Germany, and high tourist trade may be the reason it is placed relatively high.
A relatively high tourist trade may also account for Salzburg’s placing in third, with 4,611 crimes per hundred thousand inhabitants.
Using the cost of living database Numbeo, that collates survey data from a wide variety of sources, we can also pick out how crime is perceived as between Austria’s other major cities.
Klagenfurt led perceptions as being the worst for crime with a Crime Index score of 37.72. Survey respondents listed the perception of crime increasing in the past three years, with fears of being insulted or assaulted, for their ranking.
Linz, capital of Oberösterreich, took second place with a Crime Index score of 30.20. The number of perceived property crimes and drug-related crimes were seen as being responsible for this score.
READ MORE: Who to call and what to say in an emergency in Austria
Lastly, Graz, capital of Steiermark (or Styria) had had a Crime Index score of 26.20. A perceived increase in the number of property and drug-related crimes over the last three years was noted as the reason given by respondents for this score.
Interestingly, Vienna lay behind Klagenfurt and Linz, with a score of 28.93. Enhanced and very visible security measures around the capital may be partly responsible for this discrepancy between these various data sources.
With time, updated data sources will result in a clearer picture of crime in Austria. However, it’s safe to say that the country remains one among Europe’s safest - with a little common sense, there’s nothing to fear.
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