The US president recently stated that Sweden «has shifted from being a country free of crime to one now experiencing significant crime levels». The Cube examined homicide data and compared it with statistics from other European nations and the US to verify this assertion.
Donald Trump has launched a new wave of critiques aimed at several European countries, focusing especially on their management of immigration.
During a 9 December interview with Politico, the US president targeted cities such as Paris and London, as well as nations like Germany and Sweden. He characterized Europe as «weak» and in «decline» due to an excessive emphasis on «political correctness».
«Historically, Sweden was regarded as the safest country in Europe and among the safest globally,» Trump remarked. «Today, it’s known as a very unsafe, or rather quite unsafe, country. It’s difficult to accept this; it’s essentially a completely different nation.»
Later in the discussion, he criticized European countries for permitting «millions of people to enter their borders» and claimed «many of these individuals commit severe crimes».
«Take Sweden as an example,» the US president noted. «This is not an attack on Sweden—I have great respect for Sweden and its people—but it has transitioned from a crime-free nation to one with considerable criminal activity.»
So, how accurate is Sweden’s reputation for safety, especially given its relatively low crime rates?
The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking team, reviewed relevant data to shed light on this question.
European countries rank among the world’s safest and most peaceful
Different indicators can guide us toward an answer, including the Global Peace Index, which evaluates a country’s safety, ongoing conflicts, and military presence.
Sweden was placed 35th out of 163 nations, achieving a score of 1.709—where scores closer to one indicate higher levels of peace and security.
European countries largely dominate the upper rankings: eight of the top ten spots are held by European nations, with Iceland and Ireland scoring 1.095 and 1.26 respectively, leading the list.
In contrast, the US ranked 128th with a score of 2.443.
Another means to compare Sweden’s safety with neighbouring countries and the US lies in homicide statistics from Eurostat, tracking homicide rates per 100,000 people across EU members, and the US National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which compiles equivalent data for American states.
Though these datasets differ slightly in methodology, they offer insight into the conditions on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2023, Sweden’s homicide rate was 1.15 per 100,000 inhabitants, up from 0.9 in 2014. This suggests that Sweden’s safety has somewhat declined over this period.
An unsettling increase in gang-related violence has been identified in Sweden, a matter that authorities are addressing with seriousness.
Fatal shootings have surged notably since 2013, while many other European countries have seen reductions, a development which has surprised Swedish criminologists.
Most violent incidents are connected to criminal gangs involved in territorial disputes and drug trafficking. Both perpetrators and victims tend to be young males recruited for such activities.
The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has noted the influential role of social media platforms like TikTok, where offenders often glorify their offenses.
To counter this, the Swedish government proposed in October to lower the criminal responsibility age from 15 to 13, aiming to address the recruitment of minors into gangs that commit violent acts.
Authorities recently confirmed that the number of active gang members in Sweden has remained stable during 2025, showing neither growth nor reduction.
Nevertheless, when compared to the US, Sweden is safer than even the least violent American state: New Hampshire reported a homicide rate of 1.9 in 2023, according to the NCHS.
The District of Columbia recorded the highest rate in the US at 33.1, far exceeding Sweden’s figure, with all other states falling between these values.
This rate also surpasses every European country’s, based on the same Eurostat data: Latvia (4.20), Turkey (2.54), and Lithuania (2.41) exhibit the highest homicide rates, followed by Belgium at 1.38.
Eurostat cited Liechtenstein (0.0), Malta (0.37), and Italy (0.57) as having the lowest homicide rates in Europe for 2023.