Dutch city crime rates fall, especially in Rotterdam

The difference in crime rate between urban and rural areas continues to decrease. With the exception of Amsterdam, the proportion of city inhabitants that fell victim to crime last year is similar to other, less urbanized police regions. This is according to figures released by Statistics Netherlands on Friday. Amsterdam is the only city that still has a significantly higher crime rate than other areas - 29 percent of Amsterdam residents were victims of crime last year. The number of crime victims decreased in all police regions between 2006 and 2014. The decline was strongest in Rotterdam, where crime decreased by more than a third. The other highly urbanized areas - Amsterdam, The Hague and Midden-Nederland with Utrecht as central municipality - also saw a sharp decline in crime. Oost-Brabant showed the least, relative decline. Other less urbanized regions like Zeeland, West-Brabant, Limburg and Noord-Holland also showed a less strong decline. The regional differences in insecurity among residents decreased even more than the differences in crime rate. The crime experience in highly urbanized areas in and around the four largest cities fell more than in less urbanized areas. In 2006 The Hague and Rotterdam had the most people feeling unsafe with 55 percent, compared to Noord-Nederland, Oost-Nederland and Noord-Holland who had the least at 33 percent. Last year these percentages were much closer together. Amsterdam, The Hague, Limburg and Midden-Nederland had the most with 39 percent, Noord-Nederland had the least with 31 percent.