Cebu City slides down on Safest Cities List; Crime Index Rate increases – Numbeo

Cebu City skyline. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City slid down on the ranks of Safest Cities for 2020, recent statistics from survey-powered, online database Numbeo showed. 

The capital of Cebu province in Central Visayas was ranked the 259th Safest City in the World, after earning a Safety Index Score of 48.58. 

It came next to Dnipro from Ukraine. 

Cebu City’s current rank in the list is 69 notches below its previous rank in 2019, which was at 190. 

Figures from Numbeo showed that the city has also slid down in the ranks among cities in Asia and Southeast Asia. 

From the 55th Safest City in Asia, Cebu City slid further down to the 66th spot, next to Pattaya in Thailand. The same trend was also observed when ranked among Southeast Asian cities. 

Cebu City landed on 12th spot in terms of the Safest Cities in Southeast Asia, which is three notches below from its previous ranking in 2019 at the 9th spot. 

Numbeo’s records also revealed that Cebu City’s Safety Index Rate has decreased from 53.87 in 2019 to 48.58 in 2020. 

As Cebu City’s Safety Index Rate decreased, Numbeo’s figures showed that the city’s Crime Index Rate has increased by 5.29 points. From 46.13 in 2019, it went up to 51.42 for 2020. 

According to Numbeo, the higher the Safety Index Rate, the safer the area. 

The website further disclosed that an area’s Safety Index Rate is inversely correlated to its Crime Index Rate. This means that the Safety Index Rate of a city or country decreases if its Crime Index Rate increases, and only increases if its Crime Index Rate decreases. 

CDN Digital has come up with a comparative table to show Cebu City’s ranks in Numbeo’s Safest Cities List in 2019 and 2020

Moderately Safe

With a Crime Index Rate at 51.42, Cebu City is considered to be a city with ‘moderate crime levels’, based on Numbeo’s standards.

“Crime Index is an estimation of overall level of crime in a given city or a country. We consider crime levels lower than 20 as very low, crime levels between 20 and 40 as being low, crime levels between 40 and 60 as being moderate, crime levels between 60 and 80 as being high and finally crime levels higher than 80 as being very high,” Numbeo stated. 

Based on the surveys they collated in relation to Cebu City, perception of corruption and bribery associated with the city topped the list of known crimes with a crime index score at 69.37. 

It was followed by people using and/or dealing drugs, with a crime index score at 64.73. 

Other crimes most respondents of Numbeo observed, perceived, or associated with Cebu City are “vandalism and theft, an increase in the number of crimes in the past three years, and worries of being mugged or robbed.” 

Six cities from the Philippines made it to the list of 374 Safest Cities in the World by Numbeo. Only Davao City made it to the Top 100, at the 69th spot with a score of 71.92. 

Makati City was ranked the 176th Safest City in the World with a score of 58. Iloilo City in Western Visayas landed on the 213th spot after earning a Safety Index Rate of 55.30. 

Quezon City, with a score 37.31, was at 324. Manila City is 10 notches below Quezon City – at 334 with a Safety Index Rate of 35.63. 

Numbeo disclosed that the scores they produced for each city were sourced from data in the past 3 years. 

“These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past 3 years,” it added. 

Numbeo also said they have successfully conducted surveys from 80, 275 people in 5,533 cities as of January 2020. 

Top 10 Safest Cities in the World

Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and Doha in Qatar – both cities located in the Middle East – topped the list of Safest Cities in the World. 

Other cities who made it to the Top 10 are Taipei in Taiwan (3), Quebec in Canada (4), Zurich in Switzerland (5), Dubai in United Arab Emirates (6), Munich in Germany (7), Eskisehir in Turkey (8), Bern in Switzerland (9), and Irvine in California, United States (10). 

In reverse, cities from South America and Africa are the least Safest Cities in the World. 

With a Safety Index Rate of 15.10 and Crime Index Rate of 84.90, Caracas in Venezuela is the least safest city in the world, according to Numbeo’s figures. 

Venezuela is currently in the midst of a socioeconomic and political crisis, notably marked by hyperinflation, multiple protests and other forms of political unrest, and massive emigration from the country. /bmjo