Is Taipei Safe? - 4 Safety Metrics That Prove Taipei is Safe

Taipei is one of the most unique and fascinating cities in East Asia. With a lively nightlife, superb natural attractions and luscious cuisine, Taipei has it all. But for travelers in a foreign country, safety is always going to be a concern.

So, how safe is Taipei? Taipei is one of the safest cities you can visit. According to The Economist, Taipei is the 22nd safest city in the world with a safety index score of 82.5. This makes the Taiwanese capital the 6th safest city in Asia when considering health, digital, infrastructure and personal security.

Exploring a foreign city can be both exciting and frightening at the same time. While Taipei is considered to be generally safe, there are some things to be aware of. Let’s examine what makes Taipei such a safe city and potential dangers.

RECOMMENDED: A Local’s Guide to Taipei

Table of Contents

Measuring Safety in Taipei

The Economist conducts a safest cities index every year, measuring and ranking the safest cities in the world. For the last few years, Taipei has consistently made the list of top 25 safest cities. It’s not just Taipei, but the whole country is considered a safe destination to visit.

It’s worth noting that The Economist only considered urban cities when pulling together this list. With over half of the world population living in cities, their reasoning is that humanity is predominantly an urban species.

It’s a fair argument, but keep in mind, your crime-free suburban city won’t qualify for the list. That being said, The Economist Intelligence Unit measures safety based on four distinct factors:

Digital Security
Health Security
Infrastructure Security
Personal Security

All four of these factors are normalized to a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 meant the best health. The overall score is the average of the city’s score from the four safety index factors. It’s the overall score that determined The Economist’s final list of safest cities.

Needless to say, Taipei scored exceptionally with all four safety factors. They did so well that I’m a bit shocked they didn’t score higher with the overall score.

The Safest Cities in Asia

Though the overall rankings have shifted, the rankings of the safest cities in East Asia has remained the same since the inception of this safety index. And for reference, here are the world’s 10 safest Asian cities.

City	Safety Index
Tokyo, Japan	92
Singapore	91.5
Osaka, Japan	90.9
Seoul, S. Korea	87.4
Hong Kong	83.7
Taipei, Taiwan	82.5
Beijing, China	70.5
Shanghai, China	70.2
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	66.3
Manila, Philippines	59.2

Tokyo is not only the safest city in East Asia, but the safest in the world. They’ve been in first place for as long as this safety index has been around. But if you look closely, you’ll notice that Taipei isn’t that far off.

In fact, the drop-off between Taipei and the next safest Asian city (Beijing) is larger than Taipei when compared to Tokyo. If that doesn’t scream “very safe” then I don’t know what does.

The Economist considers a safety index score between 75.1 and 100 as “very high.” Any score between 50.1 and 75 is recognized as “high” and 25.1 to 50 is “medium.” In other words, Taipei scored very high in regards to safety.

The 4 Safety Factors in Taipei

We already know the factors that determine how safe Taipei is, at least according to our list. But what do these factors actually mean and how did Taipei score in each section?

Digital Security

Safety Index: 77

When it comes to digital security, Taipei has a safety index score of 77. This places Taiwan’s capital in the top 25 as the 23rd best city for digital security. But what is digital security and what does it have to do with tourists?

Have you ever used the airport WiFi in a foreign country or browsed a foreign website, only to notice you “accidentally” installed malware or a virus? This type of activity is what digital security measures.

In addition, factors regarding privacy policy, citizen awareness of cybersecurity and dedicated cyber-security teams were taken into consideration. According to The Economist, these are the main factors that lead to high presence of infected computers.

Taiwan is a highly technological country and the nation’s capital is no exception. So if you’re traveling to Taipei and need to hop online to find information (or read Big Little Island!), then you should have very few worries about downloading malware or viruses.

Health Security

Safety Index: 80.2

Among the four safety factors, Taipei scored the highest in health security. With a safety index score of 80.2, Taipei is among the 10 safest countries for health security! Just barely making the cut, they ranked the 10th country for health security.

This security metric affects both tourists and citizens. It refers to the things like areas with healthcare access, quality of food, food safety, water and air safety and speed of emergency services in health care.

To be honest, this isn’t as surprising because I know Taiwan is serious about health. As a matter of fact, business magazine CEOworld recently conducted a world health index and named Taiwan as the country with the best healthcare! They finished just ahead of South Korea and Japan.

When visiting Taipei, it’s likely you’re there to try some of the best Taiwanese cuisine the country have to offer. And knowing that the Asian country takes their food safety seriously is a huge plus in my opinion. So, don’t be scared to try Taipei’s top night markets. It’s cleaner than it looks!

Infrastructure Security

Safety Index: 87.1

Infrastructure security is where Taipei scored the lowest among the four safety metrics. Even so, they had a score of 87.1, which placed them in 24th place.

The key to infrastructure security starts with good policy by the government. This metric takes into account several factors, such as continuity management plans, pedestrian friendliness, institutional capacity and disaster-risk informed development.

While Taipei does still have some old areas, I believe the infrastructure is overall safe. The only thing that stands out is pedestrian friendliness. Technically, the right of way is given to the pedestrians, but I felt that it was not the case in Taipei. This has also been a documented problem in the past.

So if you’re traveling in Taipei, you may want to be careful when crossing the streets. The city isn’t like most western countries where everyone is extra wary about pedestrians.

Personal Security

Safety Index: 85.8

With a score of 85.8, Taipei ranked as the 20th country for personal security. When it comes to personal safety, this is likely by far the most important for tourists.

The Economist took into account organized crimes, illegal drug prevalence, petty crimes and many more. The countries that scored the highest were rewarded for higher level of engagement, community-based patrolling and the use of data driven techniques.

More often than not, the crimes that do take place in Taipei is rare. And while tourists may be slighter more targeted with petty crimes (such as theft), it’s not a common problem at all. As for organized crimes, it’s extremely rare for tourists to become targets.

My Experience With Taipei Safety

Having lived in Taipei in the past and traveling to the city multiple times per year, I’ve had a lot of “experience” and knowledge of safety in Taipei. For the most part, it’s the safest city I’ve ever visited – and I’ve been to a lot of places. Let me explain why.

There was never a time in Taipei that I felt I was in danger. I walked and biked everywhere in all hours of the day. What’s more, I didn’t just stay in one district. I’ve traveled and wandered every district in Taipei, even really late at night.

In all my time in the city, I’ve never had anything stolen from me. In fact, I’ve never even seen anyone attempt to scam or rob me. It’s just not what the Taiwanese people do. No matter where you are, the vast majority of the locals are helpful, kind and generous.

Is Taipei Safe for Solo Travel?

Taipei is absolutely safe for solo travel, even if you’re a female traveling alone. It’s the one place I have no problem recommending to my female friends looking for a solo adventure. And, I make the recommendation all the time.

Most of the time I’m walking around Taipei, I’m by myself anyway. In the late hours of the night, it’s rare to see anyone even approach me. The people keep to themselves and you shouldn’t worry about getting robbed.

However, this isn’t to say that this crime doesn’t happen at all. Always remain alert and approach situations with a little bit of common sense. You’ll be fine if you do this simple thing.

Potential Dangers of Taipei

In my opinion, it doesn’t get much safer than Taipei and my friends (who have also visited Taipei) will agree with me 100%. But, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t remain vigilant at all times. You should in every country you visit.

These are the potential “dangers” I see with Taipei. It doesn’t mean these things will affect you. In fact, I would bet that it doesn’t. However, you should just be aware of them.

Traffic & Cars

As previously mentioned, Taipei is a city where cars rarely give the right of way to pedestrians. Many cars don’t obey some traffic laws, but that’s fairly “normal” in Taiwan’s capital.

But if you’re from the United States like myself, this can be a problem early on. Unsuspecting tourists who don’t know any better can potentially get hurt by simply crossing the street.

I don’t want to scare you from walking in the city. It really isn’t a huge problem. It’s not like drivers want to hit people. Rather, they try to skillfully maneuver around you. And most of the time, they do so without even coming close to hitting you.

Organized Crimes

Taipei has an unofficial red light district situated on the western side of the city. The location is on Linsen North Road in Zhongshan District. Although this neighborhood is lively with an old-school Taiwanese feel, the area can get a little sketchy at night.

The reason why this area can be a “potential danger” is because it’s run by the city’s organized crime. It’s not uncommon to see a group of tattooed gangsters hanging out drinking beer and playing games. However, the gangs in Taiwan aren’t violent and aggressive for no reason.

As long as you remain respectful and don’t aggressively engage with them, there’s absolutely no reason for them to mess with you. And most of the time, they won’t care much for you. Even so, it doesn’t feel unsafe walking around in this area.

Other areas in Zhongzheng and Wanhua district also have a lot of gang activities. Keep in mind, the Taiwan mob members come out primarily late at night. So if you don’t want to see them in these areas, try to come during the day time.

Don’t be scared to visit Taipei, whether alone or with family. As low as the crime rates are in the country, it’s even lower for foreign visitors. In Asia, Taipei is one of the safest cities you can visit…and the numbers back that up.

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How Safe is Taipei? – 4 Safety Metrics That Prove Taipei is Safe