Is Hungary safe? Here is the updated crime map

Sadly, the number of felonies grew significantly between 2022 and 2023 and reached a five-year peak in 2023. In a county, the number of registered crimes grew by 40%. But is that the national trend? And how did Budapest perform? Is Hungary still safe for foreigners, guest workers? Here is the new ‘crime map’ updated by the latest data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH).

Number of serious crimes fell

In Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County, the number of registered felonies increased by 40% from 5,525 to 7,748 between 2022 and 2023. The base was very high in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, 12,852, and the growth is considerable, 2,256 in just one year. In Hajdú-Bihar County, the number of crimes grew from 5,608 to 7,159, Pénzcentrum wrote.

On a national level, the number of serious crimes like homicide fell, but the number of frauds and thefts skyrocketed.

Money seized from an online fraudster. Photo: MTI

The number of crimes is the highest in Budapest and Pest County. However, considering the population in these two regions, that is not surprising. For example, Budapest’s population is more than 1.75 million, while Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County has around 640 thousand people. Meanwhile, the number of crimes committed in Budapest was “only” 43 thousand. And that is only a 2% rise compared to 2022.

Safer counties on the crime map

Which counties became safer? The number of crimes committed decreased the most in Nógrád County by 14%. The decrease spans between 3% and 9% in Baranya, Veszprém, Somogy, Győr-Moson-Sopron, and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties.

In the case of bodily harm, the number of crimes decreased in Budapest by 2%, but that rate is 43% in the case of Győr-Moson-Sopron County. That means the number of registered cases dropped from 331 to 188 in just one year. The national average is -4%. On the other end of the list are Baranya, Veszprém and Bács-Kiskun counties: +18%, +13%, and +13%.

The number of drunk driving cases grew the most in Hajdú-Bihar and Tolna counties but decreased in Budapest by 3%, in Pest County by 9% and by 29% in Tolna County.

Deadly road accident on main road nr 55. Photo: MTI

No more COVID in 2023, peaking crime

The trend is not advantageous in the case of thefts. On the national level, the growth is 5%, but in Pest County, it is 20% and 4% in Budapest. Nine counties saw a decrease in the number of thefts.

All in all, we can say that Hungary and Budapest remain safe for foreign guest workers and tourists even though the number of certain crime types began to grow. That might be partly because of the end of the COVID restrictions. In 2022, there were some restrictions in effect, while 2023 was the first “free year” for us after 2019.

Check out Pénzcentrum’s crime maps in their articles HERE. The data they used to draw them was provided by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH).

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