Safety is one of the first things people picture when they imagine living somewhere new: walking home at night, leaving a bike unlocked, raising kids without a second thought. But it is more than the crime rate. A genuinely safe place is also stable and predictable, with institutions you can rely on. This guide ranks all 27 EU countries on everyday safety.
What “safe” really means
- Everyday crime: how secure ordinary life feels, day and night.
- Political and social stability: a calm, predictable backdrop you can plan around.
- Reliable institutions: police, courts and emergency services that work when you need them.
All 27 EU countries by safety
Here is where MoveMap’s model rates each EU country for everyday safety, with political stability alongside it, safest first (illustrative scores only):
| Country | Safety* | Stability* |
|---|---|---|
| Finland | 92 | 92 |
| Austria | 88 | 85 |
| Denmark | 88 | 90 |
| Luxembourg | 88 | 90 |
| Portugal | 85 | 80 |
| Slovenia | 85 | 78 |
| Estonia | 83 | 78 |
| Cyprus | 82 | 68 |
| Czechia | 82 | 72 |
| Netherlands | 82 | 85 |
| Sweden | 82 | 88 |
| Croatia | 80 | 65 |
| Germany | 80 | 82 |
| Ireland | 80 | 82 |
| Lithuania | 80 | 74 |
| Malta | 80 | 72 |
| Slovakia | 80 | 65 |
| Greece | 78 | 60 |
| Hungary | 78 | 55 |
| Latvia | 78 | 70 |
| Spain | 78 | 72 |
| Italy | 75 | 62 |
| Poland | 75 | 62 |
| Romania | 75 | 58 |
| Belgium | 72 | 72 |
| France | 72 | 74 |
| Bulgaria | 68 | 55 |
The nuance the score misses
Safety is local. A quiet country can have a rougher big city, and a country with a lower average can have neighbourhoods that feel perfectly calm. Whether you have children, how you commute and where exactly you live all shape how safe a place feels in practice, so use the ranking to compare countries, then dig into specific cities.
Match it to your priorities
How much safety should weigh against cost, climate or career is personal. The MoveMap check balances safety against everything else that matters to you and ranks all 27 EU countries for your situation.