Copenhagen

Is Copenhagen safe?

Yes, very. The main risk for a visitor is a phone lifted on Strøget or at the central station. Statistics Denmark records 6 homicides in Copenhagen municipality in 2025 and 10 in 2024, about 1 per 100,000 people a year, and only 6 road deaths in 2025 in a city where almost everyone cycles.

That does not mean nothing happens. Copenhagen has an organised crime scene that, in bad years, produces shootings and hand grenade attacks, and in 2022 a gunman killed three people at a shopping centre. These events are rare and seldom involve visitors, but they shape how the city talks about safety. We score Copenhagen 86, above Amsterdam (82) and level with Edinburgh.

Gangs, grenades and hired Swedish teenagers

Most of Copenhagen's serious violence comes from conflicts between gangs and biker groups. In one week in August 2024, two people were shot on Hans Tavsens Gade in Nørrebro, shots were fired at a jeweller's in Frederiksberg, and a hand grenade was thrown into a kiosk on Hans Knudsens Plads in Østerbro.

A newer twist is crime for hire across the Øresund. In October 2024, two hand grenades exploded near the Israeli embassy in Hellerup, just north of the city; a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old from Sweden were arrested and charged under the terrorism law. Denmark tightened checks at the Swedish border, focusing on Swedes aged 14 to 20. In its April 2025 assessment, the PET security service kept the terrorism threat at "serious", 4 of 5, and warned that people with links to organised crime are now hired to carry out attacks.

The numbers are calmer than the headlines. Attempted homicides in the municipality fell from 27 in 2024 to 15 in 2025, according to Statistics Denmark, and most of the violence is aimed at rivals rather than passers-by. The Sweden page covers the much larger gang problem on the other side of the bridge.

The Field's shooting

On 3 July 2022, a young man opened fire in the Field's shopping centre in Ørestad, killing two 17-year-olds and a 46-year-old man and wounding several others. In July 2023, the Copenhagen district court found him guilty of three killings and 30 attempted killings and sent him to a closed psychiatric ward with no time limit, after finding him mentally ill.

Pickpockets and bike theft

Theft is where Copenhagen loses points. The UK FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says pickpocketing and bag snatching are common at:

• Copenhagen Central Station and Nørreport Station
• Strøget, the main shopping street
• Nyhavn and Kongens Nytorv
• Christiania
• Kastrup airport and the trains to and from it

Thieves use distraction on crowded public transport and also work in hotel lobbies, cafés and restaurants. Police recorded 14,792 "other thefts", the category that includes pickpocketing, in the municipality in 2025, and 16,094 bike thefts. If you rent a bike, always lock it, even for a few minutes, and park it in a busy, well-lit place.

Cycling, roads and night safety

Copenhagen's roads are among the safest of any capital: 27 deaths in 2021–2025, about 0.8 per 100,000 a year. The risk for a visitor is mostly on a bike. Cyclists made up 108 of the 190 people seriously injured on the city's roads in 2025. Bike lanes are fast and busy at rush hour. Keep right, signal before you stop or turn, and do not stop in the lane to check your phone. On foot, check the cycle lane before stepping off the pavement; most visitors get it wrong at least once.

The city feels safe after dark. In the EU's 2023 survey, 87% of residents said they feel safe walking alone at night in the city, more than in Amsterdam (79%) or Vienna (78%). The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary advises extra care in Christiania and Nørrebro late at night, where there has been gang violence.

Air quality is good: IQAir measured 7.1 µg/m³ of fine particlesPM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary in 2024. The main weather hazards are summer cloudbursts and winter storms. For the rest of the country, see our Denmark page.

How we scored it

Traffic safety (93), natural hazards (91) and health (89) are Copenhagen's strongest factors. Violent crime (88) is in the rubric's 1–4 homicides per 100,000Homicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary band, at about 1.1 a year over 2023–2025, with gang shootings and a serious terrorism threat. Walking at night (88) follows the EU's 2023 survey of residents, less 2 points for the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary warning about Christiania and Nørrebro. Theft (72) is the weakest factor, because pickpockets work the places visitors go.