Penang has been ranked 69th out of 402 cities worldwide in the 2026 Numbeo Safety Index, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
Chow said the Crime Index score was 28.9 while the Safety Index score was 71.1.
“The figures reflect the confidence of the people in going about their daily lives in a peaceful and secure environment,” he said in a media statement.
Speaking after a security briefing from Penang police chief Comm Datuk Dennis Lim Kwang Keng, Chow said no incidents had been reported that could affect the stability and harmony of the state.
He said the state government would continue prioritising security and public order.
“We want Penang to remain a state that is not only progressive in terms of its economy and development, but safe to live in, secure for families and harmonious for everyone,” he said.
He added that maintaining peace was a shared responsibility among the state government, security forces, and community.
Also present at the briefing were state Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Asst Comm Zailanni Amit, state Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department head Senior Asst Comm Helmi Aris and Special Branch E4 staff officer Supt Reno Othman.
The Safety Index ranking is based on data compiled by Numbeo, a crowd-sourced online database that collects user-contributed information on crime and safety worldwide.
Its index relies primarily on survey responses from website visitors regarding perceptions of crime, daytime and nighttime safety as well as concerns over robbery, theft, physical attacks and harassment.
Responses are converted into scores from zero to 100, with the Safety Index calculated as the inverse of the Crime Index.
Numbeo specifies that its index measures public perceptions rather than official crime statistics.
