In 2023, the highest number of crimes which occurred in the Greater Lisbon region were crimes against property, namely ******. These included theft, burglary, robbery, and pick pocketing, among other crimes. The second most common type of crime in the region was crime against persons, with ****** occurrences.

Despite fluctuations, namely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of homicides in Portugal has generally decreased. In 2024, the Portuguese police registered 89 homicides consummated in the country, down from 97 manslaughter cases reported two years earlier. There were 322 involuntary homicides due to traffic accidents in Portugal, and 24 homicides that happened under other circumstances, such as negligence. Manslaughter cases and incarceration rates in Portugal Portugal had one of lowest homicide rates in Europe as of 2022, at 0.72 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. The county of the nation’s capital, Lisbon, registered 23 voluntary manslaughter cases in 2024, which represented an increase in comparison to the previous year, but a decrease when compared to pre-pandemic times. In Portugal, the incarceration rate has also overall been on a downward trend. In 2023, there were 118 people incarcerated per 100,000 inhabitants. This rate, however, has risen since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was in 2015 that the incarceration rate peaked at 137.1. Despite decreasing homicide numbers, domestic violence is increasing in Portugal Domestic violence, which triggers multiple manslaughter cases in Portugal, has been increasing over recent years. In 2023, there were almost 30,500 recorded incidences of domestic violence, which represents a rise compared to pandemic and pre-pandemic years. This type of crime takes place in the domestic environment and between people with a degree of kinship. In 2023, 28 percent of cases occurred between spouses or partners, while seven percent of recorded occurrences concerned ex-spouses or ex-partners. In the same year, 27 percent of domestic violence victims were children or stepchildren of the accused, while the parents or stepparents of the alleged criminals were the victims of domestic violence in over seven percent of cases.

The number of terrorism-related incidences which occurred in Portugal from 1972 to 2022 dramatically fluctuated. Data shows that over this period there was a significant annual increase during the 1980s, with the peak occurring in 1985 with 20 separate instances of terrorism-related behavior. Contrarily, there has not been an attack recorded in Portugal since 2011. Crime in Portugal Physical force was the weapon used in most crimes taking place in Portugal in 2023. The almost 4,500 criminal incidences using physical force contrast with the 1,340 occurrences where a knife or another cutting instrument was used and with the 553 instances with a firearm. The overall number of crimes in the country has decreased in recent years, which is generally aligned with the trend in the number of manslaughter cases. These have also overall decreased over the last decade. The same can be said about incarceration rates in Portugal, at 118 per 100,000 inhabitants in the same year. Crime in Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal’s capital city, mostly recorded crimes against property in 2023. While these totaled almost 44,900 occurrences, there were less than half as many incidences of crimes against persons, the second most common type of crime in the Greater Lisbon region. During the same year, the number of voluntary manslaughter cases in the area was 21, which was the lowest value since 2019, when 20 homicides were recorded by the police forces.