In 2024, Pietermaritzburg in South Africa ranked first in the crime index among African cities, scoring **** index points. The six most dangerous areas on the continent were South African cities. Furthermore, Pretoria and Johannesburg followed, with a score of **** and **** points, respectively. The index estimates the overall level of crime in a specific territory. According to the score, crime levels are classified as very high (over 80), high (60-80), moderate (40-60), low (20-40), and very low (below 20). Contact crimes are common in South Africa Contact crimes in South Africa include violent crimes such as murder, attempted murder, and sexual offenses, as well as common assault and robbery. In fiscal year 2022/2023, the suburb of Johannesburg Central in the Gauteng province of South Africa had the highest number of contact crime incidents. Common assault was the main contributing type of offense to the overall number of contact crimes. Household robberies peak in certain months In South Africa, June, July, and December experienced the highest number of household robberies in 2023. June and July are the months that provide the most hours of darkness, thus allowing criminals more time to break in and enter homes without being detected easily. In December, most South Africans decide to go away on holiday, leaving their homes at risk for a potential break-in. On the other hand, only around ** percent of households affected by robbery reported it to the police in the fiscal year 2022/2023.

In 2024, South Africa ranked first in the crime index among African countries, with a score of **** index points. Nigeria was the second most dangerous country on the continent, obtaining **** points. The index evaluates the overall crime levels in a specific country. Several African countries scored between ** and ** points, indicating high crime levels. Escalating concerns: South Africans worry about crime and violence In 2024, South Africa had one of the highest proportions of respondents expressing concerns about crime and violence compared to other countries participating in an online study. Throughout the period examined, the percentage of participants worried about violence peaked at ** percent in March 2023. The escalating levels of violent crime currently witnessed in the country has caused this significant rise in concerned respondents. South Africa's organized crime landscape In 2023, South Africa ranked the ************* in organized crime compared to its African counterparts. The continent's most prevalent organized criminal activity was **************************************. Moreover, from a regional perspective, Southern African countries had the lowest organized crime rate.

Abstract

In accordance with the Section 218 (f) of the Interim Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 (Act No. 200 of 1993), the South African Police Service (SAPS) should enable the provision of crime intelligence data, criminal records and statistics on quartely and annual basis. The annual crime records cover crime perpetrated and reported to or detected by the police across all police stations in South Africa. The records include crime figures at station level that can be aggregated to both provincial and national levels. The crime records are divided into five broad crime categories, namely; contact crime, contact-related crime, property-related crime and other serious crime, making up the seventeen (17) serious types of crime reported to the police by the public, and crimes detected as a result of police actions.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Other

Kind of data

Administrative records

Mode of data collection

Other

Research instrument

Crime Docket

Cleaning operations

The main value add in the records is now a single observation in the annual crime records that represents offence variables reported to the SAPS at a certain station or mobile station (GIS locations are also included) in a particular financial year. This new data structure increases the utility of the data by enabling spatial and time series approaches to be analyses of the records.

Data appraisal

Some police stations only keep crime information for the last two financial years. Thus, there is missing data for the years before 2021

In 2025, Pietermaritzburg in South Africa ranked as the world's most dangerous city with a crime rate of 82 per 100,000 inhabitants. Five of the 10 cities with the highest crime rates worldwide are found in South Africa. The list does not include countries where war and conflict exist. South Africa dominates crime statistics When looking at crime rates, among the 10 most dangerous cities in the world, half of them are found in South Africa. The country is struggling with extremely high levels of inequality, and is struggling with high levels of crime and power outages, harming the country's economy and driving more people into unemployment and poverty. Crime in Latin America On the other hand, when looking at murder rates, Latin America dominates the list of the world's most dangerous countries. Violence in Latin America is caused in great part by drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and gang wars.

Data presented as a spreadsheet; Provides the 17 community reported serious crime rate across all provinces in South Africa since 2014Linage: The data presented is extracted from Statistcs South Africa (Stats SA) Mid-year population estimates (MYPE) trends as published on https://www.statssa.gov.za/ and the South African Police Service (SAPS) Crime Statistics trends as published on https://www.saps.gov.za/services/crimestats.phpData Source: Excel - Provincial projection by sex and age (2002-2024)_web, Stats SA, published 30 July 2024 and 2023-2024 _Annual_Financial year_WEB, SAPS, published ‎2024Contact person: Elize van der Berg, Department of the Premier, Elize.VanDerBerg@westerncape.gov.za

Data presented as a spreadsheet; Provides an overview of the number of community reported serious crime across all provinces in South Africa since 2014.Linage: The data presented is extracted from the South African Police Service (SAPS) Crime Statistics trends as published on https://www.saps.gov.za/services/crimestats.phpContact person: Elize van der Berg, Department of the Premier, Elize.VanDerBerg@westerncape.gov.za

As of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, only a fraction of the total number of murder and sexual offense cases reported to the South African police was brought to trial by the National Prosecuting Authority. Of the ***** sexual offense cases that went to trial, ***** ended up with a secure conviction.

In 2023, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had Africa's highest organized crime index in Africa, scoring 7.35 points. Nigeria ranked second with a total of 7.28 points. To follow, other African countries with significant criminality levels were South Africa, Kenya, Libya, and the Central African Republic. Main criminal markets in Africa Human trafficking is the main type of crime perpetrated in Africa. In 2022, over 21,700 human trafficking victims were identified in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most victims of trafficking in persons on the continent are girls and women, who are predominantly victims of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Other common forms of criminality in Africa are financial crimes, as well as arms trafficking, which include the illegal trade of unauthorized small arms, ammunition, and explosives. Terrorism across Africa In recent years, terrorism has spread at particularly high levels in some African countries. Nigeria, headquarter of the Boko Haram terrorist group, has been facing high levels of crime, violence, and poor national security, and ranked among the highest 10 countries in the global terrorism index in 2022. However, Nigeria and Niger have seen improvements between 2020 and 2022, with the hot spot area in the region moving more towards the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Furthermore, terrorism tends to have adverse effects on the economy. For example, the economic impact of terrorist acts between 2007 and 2019 in Nigeria amounted to around 142 billion U.S. dollars.

Turks and Caicos Islands saw a murder rate of ***** per 100,000 inhabitants, making it the most dangerous country for this kind of crime worldwide as of 2024. Interestingly, El Salvador, which long had the highest global homicide rates, has dropped out of the top 29 after a high number of gang members have been incarcerated. Meanwhile, Colima in Mexico was the most dangerous city for murders. Violent conflicts worldwide Notably, these figures do not include deaths that resulted from war or a violent conflict. While there is a persistent number of conflicts worldwide, resulting casualties are not considered murders. Partially due to this reason, homicide rates in Latin America are higher than those in Afghanistan or Syria. A different definition of murder in these circumstances could change the rate significantly in some countries. Causes of death Also, noteworthy is that murders are usually not random events. In the United States, the circumstances of murders are most commonly arguments, followed by narcotics incidents and robberies. Additionally, murders are not a leading cause of death. Heart diseases, strokes and cancer pose a greater threat to life than violent crime.