Official statistics show there is an increase in Robbery, Theft and Damage, while homicide and Injuries seems more or less flat over the last years.
Still the most likely cause of violent death in Uruguay is to commit suicide or a traffic accident. So drive less and do not get depressed!!

When I was a kid we use to left doors open in Montevideo, now this is only still done in the countryside.
Also people did not have to have fenced their houses as it shows now all over Montevideo. I am sure there are worst places, and life is possible here, but make no mistake, it didn’t used to be as it is now. People are generally unhappy about the situation. Taxis in Montevideo now had a division between passenger and driver, supposed to be bullet proof, this has been implemented after several deadly assalts.

Well, not to worry anyway….Some comparisons to put things in Perspective…..

If we are to believe the accuracy of the source listed at the end, Uruguay ranks 22 in the ranking of Murders per capita, followed closely by Bulgaria and the U.S.A (Yes U.S.A) in positions 23 and 24 respectively with almost the same absolute rate ,
Based in this data, it is still statistically 13 times more unlikely to be killed here than in Colombia, or 11 times more unlikely than in South Africa, there is almost the same probability to be murdered here as in the U.S.A but 5 times more likely to be killed here than in Switzerland.

Hope this helps to give some facts and help people to make a rational risk assesment.

Regards

Martin

>>I would be particularly careful in Ciudad Vieja and most of all in Centro which is probably the most dangerous for pick-pockets.  Also, Avenida Italia seems to be a demarcation line with more crime North of it than South of it–but this is just my observation, not something statistical.  It seems like the second greatest number of crimes  are home burgleries–especially when they are vacant for a while.

–the Southron