Lagos has been ranked 28th among the world’s 50 most dangerous cities in 2026, raising fresh concerns about insecurity and public safety in Nigeria’s commercial capital.

The ranking, published by Serbia-based data platform, Numbeo, in its 2026 Crime Index by City, placed Lagos as the only Nigerian city on the list, with a crime index score of 68.8, indicating a high level of crime.

Despite its position, Lagos ranked ahead of cities such as Damascus in Syria, New Orleans in the United States, San Juan in Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

South Africa recorded the highest number of cities among the top eight, with Pietermaritzburg taking the first position, followed by Pretoria, while Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth occupied fifth, sixth and eighth positions respectively.

Caracas in Venezuela and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea ranked third and fourth.Other cities featured among the top 50 include Kingston in Jamaica, Mexico City, Marseille in France, Manila in the Philippines, Birmingham in the United Kingdom and Houston in the United States.

Numbeo’s Crime Index considers residents’ perceptions of crime, their sense of safety when walking alone during the day or at night, and concerns about robbery, theft, burglary, physical attacks, harassment, drug-related offences and corruption.

However, the ranking is based on crowd-sourced responses from visitors to Numbeo’s website and does not represent verified police records or official crime statistics.

The organisation also acknowledges that public perceptions of crime may differ from actual crime figures.

The 28th-place ranking has renewed attention on the need for stronger policing, improved intelligence gathering, safer public spaces and more effective measures to tackle robbery, theft and other security threats in Lagos.