Taipei

Is Taipei safe?

Yes. Taipei, a city of about 2.5 million, recorded 13 robberies and 19 bag snatchings in all of 2025, according to city police figures. You can eat at a night market at midnight, ride the MRT home and walk back through quiet lanes without much thought. We score Taipei 87 out of 100, level with Seoul and close to Hong Kong.

That is well above our score for Taiwan as a whole, which is pulled down by road deaths. Taipei's roads are much safer than the rest of the island's, and most visitors move around by MRT. The things that cost points are traffic at crossings, a fraud boom, and the earthquakes and typhoons that come with living on an active, storm-prone island.

Crime, fraud and the law

Violent crime is rare. Police recorded 24 intentional homicides in Taipei in 2025, up from 14 in 2024, about 1 per 100,000 people; Taiwan as a whole had 158. The UK Foreign Office calls crime rates in Taiwan extremely low.

Theft is uncommon too: 6,682 cases in 2025, about 270 per 100,000 people. Pickpocketing in the Shilin and Raohe night markets or at Taipei Main Station is possible but rare.

Fraud is the exception. Taipei recorded 19,279 fraud cases in 2025, almost twice the 2024 figure, though part of the rise reflects a change in how police count cases from late 2024. Most are aimed at residents, by phone and online. For a visitor, the risks are:

• Fake booking pages and ticket resellers, especially for concerts and popular attractions.
• Messages claiming a parcel or bank problem that ask you to click a link.
• Investment or romance contacts started through social media or dating apps.

Taiwan's police run a 165 anti-fraud hotline. Laws are strict on drugs, including cannabis products, and penalties for trafficking include long prison terms.

Walking at night

Taipei is busy late. Ximending, Xinyi, Gongguan near National Taiwan University and the big night markets stay full until midnight, convenience stores are on almost every corner, and the MRT runs until about midnight. In Gallup's 2025 Global Safety Report, 87% of people in Taiwan said they feel safe walking alone at night, above Japan's 78%.

Police recorded 599 sexual offences in Taipei in 2025. The usual precautions apply in the bars of Xinyi and the clubs around ATT 4 Fun: watch your drink and get a registered taxi or ride-hail car home.

Traffic and scooters

This is the factor visitors notice first. Taipei recorded about 12 road deaths per million people in 2025, roughly 1.2 per 100,000, which is safer than Seoul and a tenth of Taiwan's national rate. But the streets feel chaotic. Scooters fill every lane and wait in packs at lights, and 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 warns that vehicles may not stop at pedestrian crossings.

The classic danger is a car or scooter turning right across a crossing while you have a green light. Step out a second after the signal changes, look over your right shoulder, and do not assume a driver will yield. Pavements are often blocked by parked scooters, which pushes pedestrians into the road. YouBike rental bikes are popular, but traffic is not built around cyclists outside the river parks.

Earthquakes, typhoons and air

Taiwan sits on an active plate boundary, and Taipei lies in a basin of soft sediment that amplifies shaking. Strong quakes centred far away, such as the April 2024 Hualien earthquake, are felt hard in the city. Building codes are strict and phones receive national quake alerts.

Typhoons can arrive from June but are most active from July to September, according to 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. When a warning is raised, the city may close offices and schools for a "typhoon day", flights are cancelled and the riverside parks flood. Landslides are a risk on hillside trails such as Elephant Mountain and Yangmingshan after heavy rain. Taiwan also runs yearly Urban Resilience civil-defence drills; when sirens sound, follow police instructions to get off the street for a short time.

Air quality is moderate: 11.3 µg/m³ of PM2.5PM2.5Tiny 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 2025 at the city's own monitors, more than twice the WHO guideline, with the worst days in winter and spring when winds bring pollution from the mainland. Hospitals are excellent and many doctors speak English, but visitors pay full price, so get travel insurance.

How we scored it

Violent crime (94), walking at night (90), theft and scams (88) and traffic (88) are all strong. Natural hazards (68) is the weakest factor, for earthquakes and typhoons, and health and environment (85) loses points for air above the WHO guideline. We did not lower the score for the cross-strait situation because official advice for travellers is unchanged.