Crime in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Crime rates in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Level of crime	63.38	High
Crime increasing in the past 5 years	67.28	High
Worries home broken and things stolen	59.13	Moderate
Worries being mugged or robbed	63.44	High
Worries car stolen	56.02	Moderate
Worries things from car stolen	61.75	High
Worries attacked	54.37	Moderate
Worries being insulted	45.58	Moderate
Worries being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic origin, gender or religion	40.55	Moderate
Problem people using or dealing drugs	53.80	Moderate
Problem property crimes such as vandalism and theft	63.47	High
Problem violent crimes such as assault and armed robbery	60.32	High
Problem corruption and bribery	78.23	High

Safety in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Safety walking alone during daylight		56.56	Moderate
Safety walking alone during night		31.79	Low

Contributors: 831

Last update: 14 October 2025

These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past 5 years.

If the value is 0, it means it is perceived as very low, and if the value is 100, it means it is perceived as very high.

Moving to Kuala Lumpur? Explore:

Nearby Cities:

Crime in Petaling Jaya	10.15 miles
Crime in Subang Jaya	14.23 miles
Crime in Gombak	17.86 miles
Crime in Kuala Selangor	41.00 miles
Crime in Seremban	42.58 miles
Crime in Malacca	88.62 miles
Crime in Teluk Intan	100.55 miles
Crime in Tangkak	100.88 miles
Crime in Kampar	104.64 miles
Crime in Muar	113.16 miles

This Page in Other Languages:

DeutschKriminalität in Kuala Lumpur

PortuguêsCrime em Kuala Lumpur

ItalianoCriminalità a Kuala Lumpur

FrançaisCriminalité à Kuala Lumpur

EspañolDelincuencia en Kuala Lumpur

Leave a comment:

13 Comments so far

Lê Minh Hải on Oct 11, 2025:

According to the comment by “inaccurate” below, the ocindex.net site ranks as India lower than Malaysia. So that means India is safer than Malaysia right?

inaccurate on Sep 02, 2025:

Numbeo use visitors survey, not scientific or government statistics.
ocindex.net is more accurate which ranks Malaysia 6th in SEA, 16th in Asia and 38th in the world.

Tiana on May 29, 2025:

I'm looking at these indexes and I can't believe them. I just got back from Kuala Lumpur. As a woman, I felt 100% safe both during the day and at night. I was in various parts of the city. I don't understand these numbers, but maybe someone who lives there can explain what's going on.

Anon on Apr 27, 2025:

Is this even a reliable score? Malaysia has high safety score and I feel safe in Kuala Lumpur than any cities having higher safety score here especially USA

anony on Sep 23, 2024:

From India, I have lived here for almost 10 years, but from my experiences, it is not a good city to live or travel; some idiots are always driving like crazy and like to horn like mad cows, especially those Malays drivers. Not to forget the motorcycle riders, who drive like they are addicted to drugs. not recommended to travel to this country.

Anonymous on Mar 05, 2024:

Felt quite safe here, only downside was that the h*rny Pakistani's were following my sister around filming her because they never saw a blonde girl. It's okay to take picture but stop following and filming tourist on the street, its weird.

Matteo on Jul 29, 2023:

I'm an expat from Italy and I've been living here for almost to 2 years. I feel very safe everywhere I go, day and night. Nothing ever happened to me and the people are very nice. Maybe for women is different but as a man I don't agree with this. Love Kuala Lumpur

Norizal Md Tahir on Jun 24, 2023:

In any city area in the world, please choose to be in a safe place always. Walking in most areas KL City Center is safe. Do not choose to walk in the quiet back alley area. Kuala Lumpur is not like Tokyo where if you leave your belongings like an umbrella you won't be taken by passersby, but sometime you might be lucky. Taxi Drivers 90% are very honest. Try to wear modestly and yes keep all your expensive belonging close by.

Police Officer, I can guarantee 90% is constructive. As a local, the crime rate exists due to extreme urban poverty at 5% and some minor crimes are from illegal immigrants (3%). In Kuala Lumpur people are very generous to poor people, they won't be hungry at least as many NGOs provide free food and a place to sleep.

Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia is not perfect but Malaysian and the government is trying very hard to make it a very safe place to live in.

Z on Oct 25, 2021:

If you don't leave your necklace dangling on your neck the whole time, chances are you won't get robbed. Also, don't get yourself in trouble, because the police here are really corrupt and will make you have a hard time if they feel like it, doesn't matter if you're the victim or you're the offender

Expatboy on Apr 20, 2021:

Hi, as an expat, I have been living in Malaysia for 10 years. 5 years in Penang and 5 years in KL. I found them friendly and peaceful people and the country is beautiful. I think the comments are unfair about KL. If you know what areas to avoid and look after your belongings in the public transport, you are safe. It is one of the safest capital cities I have ever seen.

Destroyed Telephone on Apr 07, 2021:

Kuala Lumpur Is One of the Safest Cities in the world

Chad on Dec 10, 2020:

These are based on 'perceptions of visitors of this website' so most likely do not reflect the actual situation in reality.
Having said that, the worries probably do have a basis as they likely reflect the general view of crime here and should not be ignored.

Ketupat Kadir on Nov 16, 2020:

K.L can be dangerous in certain areas, especially now that Covid-19 has caused job losses.
No jobs, no money results in higher burglary rates. Pretty fucked up.

About Numbeo in the News Newsletter Advertise Premium API

Index
Crime Index:	59.16
Safety Index:	40.84