Abu Dhabi named world's safest city in 2021 safety index

The UAE’s three biggest cities have topped a safety index of more than 250 urban areas.

Abu Dhabi took pole position, with Sharjah coming sixth and Dubai, seventh.

Doha and Muscat also made the top 10, along with Taipei, Quebec City, Zurich, Munich and Cluj-Napoca in Romania.

The survey was carried out as part of a quality of life index by the global data website Numbeo.

The crowdsourced site uses several statistics to gauge which city's inhabitants have the best quality of life.

epa06943594 An aerial view shows hundreds of thousands of people participanting in the 27th Street Parade in Zurich, Switzerland, 11 August 2018. The annual dance music event Street Parade runs this year under the claim 'Culture of Tolerance'. EPA-EFE/ENNIO LEANZA

The world's top 10 most expensive cities

UAE ranked among safest countries in global crime report

Opinion: The UAE sets the bar high for crisis preparedness and recovery

This year’s overall winner was Adelaide in Australia.

Along with safety, the poll also takes into account the purchasing power of the city’s inhabitants, the levels of pollution, house price-to-income ratio and cost of living.

The quality of health care, the time it takes to commute to work, and the climate also feature in the formula.

Cities require moderate temperatures and low humidity to be considered in the top ranks of pleasant places to live.

Abu Dhabi regularly tops the list of safest cities in the world; although it briefly slipped to third six months ago, after topping the list since 2016.

Safety is calculated on the results of surveys completed by the public on the Numbeo website, and also takes into account the level of crime in the city.

Abu Dhabi has a safety index of 88.46 out of 100, meaning its residents feel very secure indeed.

Sharjah’s ranking is 83.59 and Dubai’s is 83.44.

Here are the world’s top 10 safest cities for 2021:

1. Abu Dhabi, UAE

2. Doha, Qatar

3. Taipei, Taiwan

4. Montreal, Canada

5. Zurich, Switzerland

6. Sharjah, UAE

7. Dubai, UAE

8. Munich, Germany

9. Cluj-Napoca, Romania

10. Muscat, Oman

Where are the world's most dangerous cities in 2021?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - FEBRUARY 21: Boys gather while flying kites in the Cantagalo shantytown community next to neighboring Pavao-Pavaozinho on February 21, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pacified favelas stand above Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Ahead of the World Cup, some of Rio's pacified favelas have seen an increase in violence, including a number of shootings in Cantagalo and Pavao-Pavaozinho. Around 10,000 people live in the Cantagalo and Pavao-Pavaozinho communities with a total of 1.7 million Rio residents residing in shantytowns, many of which are controlled by drug traffickers. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

No. 247, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL. Boys fly kites in the Cantagalo favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 15 million people live in the favelas, which are lawless areas of the city governed by rival gangs, who frequently engage in shootouts with the police. Mario Tama / Getty Images

Caracas in Venezuela, which comes bottom of the list has an index of 15.32, meaning its residents regularly fear for their lives.

Crime in the country has soared, ever since the oil-rich country’s economy collapsed over a decade ago.

Pretoria and Durban in South Africa also rank badly, along with the Brazilian cities Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo, which are all in the last 10.

Baltimore is considered the most unsafe city in the United States, closely preceded by Detroit. Both cities have high unemployment rates, and large communities of people living below the poverty line.

Gang violence and drug use are also problems. More than three hundred people were murdered in Baltimore in 2020, for the sixth year in a row.