Crime and Safety in Belfast City
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Belfast City is the most dangerous city in Antrim, and is among the top 5 most dangerous overall out of Antrim's 33 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Belfast City in 2026 is 51 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Antrim's overall crime rate, coming in 14% higher than the Antrim rate of 45 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Belfast City is among the top 10 safest cities, and the 1,735th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In March 2026, Belfast City had the worst crime rate in Antrim for theft from the person, with 20 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.04 per 1,000 daytime population. April 2026 was also a bad month for Belfast City residents, when it was again Antrim's most dangerous area for theft from the person, recording 15 crimes at a rate of 0.03 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Belfast City are violence and sexual offences, with 11,929 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 22. This is 1.6% lower than 2025's figure of 12,126 offences and a difference of 0.36 from 2025's crime rate of 22. Belfast City's least common crime is theft from the person, with 173 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 5% from 2025's figure of 164 crimes.
Belfast City 2026 Crime Scorecard
Most Dangerous
Cities, Antrim
42% higher, regional crime rate
Northern Ireland
29% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Belfast City is 42% higher than Northern Ireland and 29% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Belfast City Crime Rate Over Time
| Belfast City | |
| Northern Ireland | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Belfast City Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Belfast City represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
Use Crime Map
Hover over a point to see a breakdown of crime types recorded at that location. You can also filter by individual crime types, or use a combinations of offences to visualise the data you need.
See How Belfast City Compares
You can compare Belfast City's crime statistics against any other town, village, or city from across the country. Search for a location's name below to see how they stack up.
Introduction to Belfast City's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Belfast City up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Belfast City's 6,390 postcodes using three area sizes for comparison:
- Within a Five-Minute Walk
- Within a Ten-Minute Walk
- Within a Fifteen-Minute Walk
Individual crime risk scores and index figures are for the 12-month period ending April 2026 unless otherwise stated.
CrimeRate Insights
Looking into a specific address in Belfast City? CrimeRate Insights reports convert raw numbers into practical insight for any location, from single addresses and postcodes, up to major towns and cities.
Crime rates don’t happen by themselves; they follow people and patterns. Where crowds gather - near pubs and late-night venues, around the station, by supermarkets and forecourts - incidents naturally concentrate.
That doesn’t mean an area is "bad"; it usually means footfall is higher.
Your report explores these factors in a calm, non-judgemental way, putting the numbers in context and helping you spot what’s typical for places like this.
Crime Risk Scores
Belfast City • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Belfast City has a crime risk score of 390. This is based on analysis of 6,390 nearby areas within Belfast City, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.
Crime risk scores are on a scale of 1 to 1,000 and consider the severity of the crimes involved, as determined by sentencing guidelines. A score of 1 represents the lowest risk, and 1,000 the highest risk. This approach ensures that - unlike overall crime rate figures - bicycle theft is not given the same importance in Belfast City's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Belfast City, crime risk scores are typically around 390, while in Antrim they are average 367.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 441 (336 for Antrim), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 458 (Antrim 298).
Trends in Crime Risk
Belfast City
Calculated via Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess, the Seasonality Adjusted line represents the original data with seasonality subtracted, and the Trend line has been plotted unadjusted. Overall trend direction has been identified using the Mann-Kendall trend test, and rate calculated from the slope of the best-fit line identified from linear regression.
The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 35% in Belfast City's crime risk score. This is potentially a strong signal of how the crime risk is evolving. Cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Belfast City's crime risk score is down by 13%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
Over the last year, Belfast City's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 8%, indicating that the risk profile is going down. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Belfast City
The CrimeRate Index shows how crime rates compare against the national average.
1.0 equals the average
2.0 is double
3.0 triple
0.5 is half and
0.25 a quarter.
Highest Crime Rates
Belfast City • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Excluding other crime and other theft because their geographic location is often not relevant, anti-social behaviour as its definition is too wide, and bicycle theft for its specificity.
Drugs offences have a crime rate of 4.72 reports per 1,000 people in Belfast City, which is 1.53 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 2,597 crime reports logged by Police Service of Northern Ireland during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded 3,655 reports of Criminal Damage and Arson in Belfast City, resulting in a crime rate of 6.64 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.06.
The crime rate for Possession of Weapons is 0.98 times the national average at 0.83 reports per 1,000. This is from 455 crime reports reported to Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Belfast City
Excluding other crime and other theft, anti-social behaviour, and bicycle theft, and calculated with the same STL method described in Trends in Crime Risk, using CrimeRate Index figures to identify crime types that are trending above or below the national average, and the analysis timeframe limited to the last three years.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.40 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 0.56 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 29% over this timeframe.
Theft From the Person offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.25 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Theft From the Person CrimeRate Index was 0.15 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 67% over this timeframe.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.40 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 0.27 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 48% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Belfast City
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.42 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.57 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 26% over this timeframe.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.70 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 1.95 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 13% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.70 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.76 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 8% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Belfast City • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Belfast City | Antrim | Northern Ireland | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 12,946 | 23.57 | 1.67 | 19,304 | 21.54 | 1.52 | 43,885 | 17.62 | 1.25 |
| Bicycle Theft | 255 | 0.46 | 0.63 | 269 | 0.31 | 0.42 | 428 | 0.15 | 0.21 |
| Burglary | 718 | 1.30 | 0.42 | 1,124 | 1.25 | 0.40 | 2,573 | 1.02 | 0.33 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 3,655 | 6.64 | 1.06 | 5,681 | 6.35 | 1.01 | 12,926 | 5.19 | 0.83 |
| Drugs | 2,597 | 4.72 | 1.53 | 3,730 | 4.14 | 1.34 | 7,582 | 3.03 | 0.98 |
| Other Crime | 760 | 1.38 | 0.75 | 1,238 | 1.36 | 0.74 | 3,080 | 1.23 | 0.66 |
| Other Theft | 2,942 | 5.36 | 0.94 | 3,779 | 4.22 | 0.74 | 7,842 | 3.15 | 0.55 |
| Possession of Weapons | 455 | 0.83 | 0.98 | 577 | 0.65 | 0.76 | 1,231 | 0.52 | 0.61 |
| Public Order | 269 | 0.49 | 0.08 | 372 | 0.41 | 0.07 | 869 | 0.36 | 0.06 |
| Robbery | 315 | 0.56 | 0.47 | 310 | 0.34 | 0.29 | 468 | 0.19 | 0.16 |
| Shoplifting | 3,286 | 5.99 | 0.84 | 3,910 | 4.35 | 0.61 | 8,273 | 3.32 | 0.47 |
| Theft From the Person | 173 | 0.32 | 0.21 | 184 | 0.20 | 0.13 | 295 | 0.12 | 0.08 |
| Vehicle Crime | 708 | 1.29 | 0.30 | 979 | 1.09 | 0.25 | 2,067 | 0.83 | 0.19 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 11,929 | 21.74 | 0.72 | 18,008 | 20.11 | 0.66 | 41,940 | 16.83 | 0.55 |
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Total Crime by Year
Belfast City | Antrim | Northern Ireland | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 28,062 | 51.08 | 0.71 | 40,161 | 44.78 | 0.62 | 89,574 | 35.94 | 0.50 |
| 2025 | 29,581 | 53.90 | 0.73 | 42,062 | 46.95 | 0.63 | 93,985 | 37.72 | 0.51 |
| 2024 | 30,154 | 54.82 | 0.73 | 44,223 | 49.32 | 0.65 | 100,335 | 40.25 | 0.53 |
| 2023 | 31,778 | 57.88 | 0.73 | 47,267 | 52.65 | 0.67 | 107,639 | 42.99 | 0.54 |
| 2022 | 29,681 | 54.17 | 0.71 | 44,680 | 49.68 | 0.65 | 103,005 | 40.88 | 0.53 |
| 2021 | 25,194 | 46.11 | 0.67 | 39,103 | 43.47 | 0.63 | 91,280 | 36.14 | 0.53 |
| 2020 | 28,748 | 52.66 | 0.71 | 43,420 | 48.28 | 0.65 | 97,350 | 38.54 | 0.52 |
| 2019 | 29,660 | 54.30 | 0.71 | 44,003 | 48.88 | 0.64 | 96,251 | 38.09 | 0.50 |
| 2018 | 28,626 | 52.50 | 0.74 | 40,987 | 45.60 | 0.64 | 93,560 | 37.05 | 0.52 |
| 2017 | 29,828 | 54.86 | 0.86 | 41,839 | 46.65 | 0.73 | 95,010 | 37.52 | 0.59 |
| 2016 | 9,836 | 18.14 | 0.95 | 13,770 | 15.36 | 0.81 | 31,832 | 12.57 | 0.66 |
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Comparing Belfast City to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Belfast City | 51.08 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 56% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 62% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 65% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 92% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 105% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 106% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 108% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 110% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 111% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 145% more dangerous |
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You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Recent Crimes in Belfast City
The 20 most recent crime reports in Belfast City.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Black Mountain Grove | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near St. Georges Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near St. Georges Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Trench Park | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Torrens Road | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Canton Court | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Dairy Street | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Catherine Street | |
| April 2026 | Other crime | On or near Springvale Park | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Victoria Square | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Church Lane | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Marchioness Green | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Heath Lodge Square | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Catherine Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Ardilea Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Ardilea Street |
Methodology & Data Sources
Belfast City Crime Report
Data Sources & Processing
Every month, CrimeRate processes crime reports from data.police.uk, the UK's official provider of open crime report data. Each crime report includes anonymised coordinates, most often "snapped" to the middle of the nearest street, or to the nearest major landmark. The reports also include the month and year the crime was reported, as well as the type of crime.
Data releases on data.police.uk happen once a month, with a two-month delay. This means that, for example, crimes reported in Belfast City during August 2026 will typically become available in October 2026. The latest release is for Apr 2026 and was released in Jun 2026. To provide current and historical crime statistics, CrimeRate processed 61,669,232 crime reports for the latest release.
Belfast City Data Points
For Belfast City, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency in the 2015 release of their Settlements dataset, using the SA2015CD column value N11000151.
Due to the 2021 Census being conducted during a UK-wide Coronavirus lockdown, the daytime population figures released so far cannot be relied on for purposes such as comparing crime rates. Instead, CrimeRate uses Belfast City's daytime - or "workday" - population of 375,006 from NISRA's 2011 Census for calculations throughout the site.
All geographic boundaries use the full resolution - extent of the realm versions where provided to avoid missing crime reports near coastlines and rivers - the banks of the Thames in particular - that would otherwise not be included when using the clipped to the coastline datasets.
Calculating Crime Rates
CrimeRate locates the UK region, county, and town/city/village locality for each crime report, and calculates the crime rate by taking the sum of all crime reports, dividing it by the locality's daytime / "workday" population, and multiplying the result by 1,000 to get the crime rate per 1,000.
Crime Risk Score Calculations
CrimeRate calculates crime counts for local, nearby, and wider areas for every postcode in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The postcodes locations are deduplicated by a process that ensures distinct points are approximately 50 metres apart. This process removes the bias that would otherwise come from counting the same crimes several times in heavily populated areas.
Using a custom algorithm developed in-house, CrimeRate applies a crime severity weighting to each area's crime counts, based on the type of crime reported. This increases or decreases the crime count, or zeroes it out entirely, depending on the crime type. A separate crime severity rate is then calculated, standardised, and scaled to fit the crime risk score range of 1 to 1,000, with 1 being the lowest score, and 1,000 the highest.
Crime risk scores undergo further analysis per town, city, and village plus other areas including police forces and neighbourhoods. CrimeRate uses percentiles to work out the most common range of crime risk scores in each locality. This includes identifying the high and low bounds where approximately 68% of scores fall, and finding the median (50th percentile) for easy reference.
The crime types with a weight of zero are: Anti-Social Behaviour; Bicycle Theft; Other Crime; Other Theft; and Shoplifting. The highest weights to are assigned to Violence & Sexual Offences, and the lowest to Vehicle Crime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crime in Belfast City