Manila tops cities with highest crime rate in SE Asia — global poll

The country’s capital, Manila, was listed as the city with the highest crime rate in South East Asia this year, based on recent data from a Serbian crowd-sourced online database, Numbeo.

According to the published list, Manila ranked 42nd with a 64.5 crime index out of 311 cities worldwide, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 61.2, Jakarta with 52.6, and Ho Chi Minh City with 51.7.

Rounding out the top five is Cebu City, with a 51.6 crime index, ranking 109th worldwide. The Queen City of the South is also the second city in the country with the highest crime rate.

Meanwhile, Iloilo City, ranked 179th, is the third Philippine city with the highest crime rate at 41.1.

The Numbeo poll also stated that the Philippines is the only Asian country included in the top 50.

On the other hand, the Department of the Interior and Local Government reported just last month a 3.29 percent decrease in total crime incidents during the first half of the year, as reported by DILG Undersecretary Marlo Iringan during the House of Representatives appropriations committee hearing on the DILG’s proposed P281.3 billion budget for 2025.

Iringan attributed the period-over-period decline in crime incidents this year to the "sustained and aggressive anti-criminality efforts" of the Philippine National Police.

Iringan highlighted that crime solution and clearance efficiency have also seen significant improvements with the PNP sustaining a crime efficiency rate of more than 94 percent and crime solution efficiency of more than 87 percent.

It can be recalled that the Philippines was named the third safest country in Southeast Asia by international think tank Gallup in its 2023 Global Law and Order Report.

The country also placed 33rd out of more than 160 countries in the overall global ranking.

South Africa topping the list

Meanwhile, Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria, and Johannesburg, three South African cities, ranked first, second, and fifth respectively for the highest crime rates in the world.

Caracas in Venezuela and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea were listed third and fourth in the list of cities with the highest crime rate.

Numbeo is a Serbian crowd-sourced online database of perceived consumer prices, real property prices, and quality of life metrics.

The website was founded in April 2009 by former Google employee Mladen Adamović to enable users to share and compare information about the cost of living between countries and cities.