London saw its lowest murder rate on record last year, countering a right-wing narrative that the city is dangerous.
In 2025, 97 people were murdered, 1.1 per 100,000 inhabitants; for comparison, New York City, which has seen a huge decline in violent crime since the 1990s, has a homicide rate of 2.8/100,000. London’s police commissioner said it was “an extraordinarily safe global city,” expressing frustration with the “crazily polarized debate” fueled by comments from tech billionaire Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump suggesting rampant lawlessness in the capital.
Polls show that Londoners broadly feel safe in their town, although property theft, particularly phone snatching and shoplifting, has leapt up in recent years.