Crime rate in the Netherlands, town by town
Pick a municipality and see how many crimes, burglaries and bike thefts the Dutch police registered there in 2025, compared with the rest of the country. Then narrow it down to your neighbourhood.
national figure: 44.1
national figure: 2.61
Is the Netherlands safe?
Yes, and it has become safer. In 2025 the Dutch police registered 808,021 crimes. The 795,052 that can be placed in a municipality come to 44.1 for every 1,000 residents, 12% fewer than in 2016. Burglary fell even harder: 21,614 break-ins at homes, 61% fewer than in 2016. The exception is 2026, where burglary is running slightly above last year again.
What surprises most people who move here is not how much crime there is but what kind. Violent crime against residents is rare. What you are far more likely to meet is theft: of your bike above all. In 2025, 98,296 bikes, mopeds and scooters were reported stolen, and the real number is higher because plenty of people never report a cheap bike.
The second thing is that the safest-looking place on paper is not always the one with the fewest burglaries. The table below shows why.
Crime rate in Amsterdam and the other big cities
Registered crime in 2025, per 1,000 residents and per 1,000 homes. Change is total crime compared with 2016.
| Town | Crime per 1,000 residents | Burglary per 1,000 homes | Bikes stolen | Since 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | 85.6 | 3.19 | 13,284 | -11% |
| Rotterdam | 78.5 | 2.80 | 6,074 | -11% |
| The Hague | 69.2 | 2.24 | 5,516 | -7% |
| Utrecht | 73.0 | 3.73 | 4,532 | -7% |
| Eindhoven | 75.1 | 3.55 | 2,684 | -10% |
| Groningen | 60.6 | 2.94 | 3,364 | -14% |
| Haarlem | 55.1 | 1.73 | 1,932 | -4% |
| Leiden | 56.4 | 1.84 | 1,585 | -2% |
| Delft | 53.2 | 2.53 | 1,354 | -9% |
| Maastricht | 59.4 | 2.32 | 945 | -21% |
| Almere | 39.8 | 4.14 | 860 | -17% |
| Amstelveen | 38.3 | 5.69 | 440 | -13% |
Source: Dutch police open data (table 47018NED) and Statistics Netherlands (86165NED). National figures: 44.1 crimes per 1,000 residents, 2.61 burglaries per 1,000 homes.
Amsterdam against Amstelveen
Amsterdam has the highest crime rate per resident in the country: 85.6 per 1,000. That figure flatters nobody, but it is also unfair on the people who live there. Every pickpocketed tourist and every fight outside a club in the centre is counted, and then divided by residents only. Millions of visitors are in the numerator and not in the denominator.
Amstelveen, where many international families settle, looks twice as calm: 38.3 crimes per 1,000 residents. Yet it has the highest burglary rate of any large municipality: 5.69 per 1,000 homes, against 3.19 in Amsterdam. That is not a contradiction. Burglars go where there is something to take and where they can reach the back of a house unseen. Detached and semi-detached homes with gardens and a back path score higher than flats where neighbours meet on the stairs.
So if you are choosing where to live, look at the burglary figure for the kind of home you are moving into, not only at the headline crime rate.
When burglars are busiest
Average number of home burglaries per month across the Netherlands, 2022 to 2025.
April is the quietest month and December the busiest, with 71% more burglaries. It is not the cold that does it but the dark. At five in the afternoon an empty house looks empty from the street, and most burglaries in winter happen between late afternoon and early evening, not in the middle of the night.
From January to July 2026 the police registered 11,636 home burglaries against 11,467 in the same months of 2025. After ten years of decline that is a small rise, 1.5%, not a wave.
Three things these numbers do not tell you
- Nothing about your street. A municipality is big. Within one town the difference between two neighbourhoods is often a factor of five, which is why the tool goes down to neighbourhood level for burglary.
- Only what was reported. These are registered crimes. Someone who loses nothing in an attempted break-in often does not report it, and neither does the owner of a cheap stolen bike.
- Small towns swing hard. Five burglaries more or less can move a small municipality from the bottom of the list to the top. Below twenty burglaries the tool shows a warning instead of a comparison.
Where the figures come from
Crime figures come from the open data of the Dutch police, table 47018NED: total registered crime (0.0.0), home burglary (1.1.1), burglary of sheds and garages (1.1.2) and theft of bikes, mopeds and scooters (1.2.3). Residents and homes per municipality come from Statistics Netherlands, table 86165NED. Neighbourhood figures are three years combined (2023 to 2025), because a single year is too few burglaries to say anything. Retrieved August and September 2026. We divided by residents or homes and changed nothing else. The same tool in Dutch shows the burglary figures only.
Frequently asked
Is Amsterdam safe to live in?
For residents, yes. Its crime rate per resident is the highest in the country, but a large share of that is pickpocketing, bike theft and nightlife incidents in the centre, with visitors counted as victims and not as residents. Home burglary in Amsterdam is 3.19 per 1,000 homes, close to the national 2.61.
Which cities in the Netherlands have the lowest crime rate?
Among municipalities with more than 50,000 residents, the lowest rates are in rural municipalities such as Westerkwartier, De Fryske Marren and Goeree-Overflakkee, at around 20 to 24 crimes per 1,000 residents. Of the large cities, Almere and Amstelveen have the lowest overall rate, though both score above average on burglary.
Can I see crime in my own street?
Not in official statistics, which stop at neighbourhood level. The police publish a map on politie.nl with recent incidents, and many neighbourhoods have a WhatsApp group for local alerts. Your neighbours are usually the best source for your own street.
How do I report a burglary in the Netherlands?
If it is happening now or someone is still inside, call 112. Afterwards, call the police on 0900 8844 or report it online at politie.nl. You need the report number for your insurer. Read what to do after a burglary (Dutch).
Why is burglary higher in wealthier towns?
Because that is where there is more to take and more houses with an unseen back side. Bloemendaal and Amstelveen are near the top of the list, remote villages like Veere near the bottom. It says something about the houses, not about the people.
What you can do about it
Burglar alarms in the Netherlands
Without a subscription, and why outdoor detection beats indoor.
Camera rules and privacy
What you may film at a Dutch home and what you may not.
Home security in the Netherlands
Where to start, what it costs and what renters can do.
This page comes from our own installations at people’s homes across the Netherlands, not from a brochure. veiligergevoel.nl is the consumer brand of CameraInstallatie.nl, a security specialist since 1999. We speak English on site and on the phone.
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