Oristano (again) the safest province in Italy, other Sardinian cities also doing well: crime rates are decreasing.
Milan leads the way, ahead of Florence and Rome. Crime is decreasing: fewer thefts and robberies, more cyber fraud, and more minors reported. Cagliari stands out for arson and prostitution, Nuoro for homicides.
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Oristano is once again the safest province in Italy. And Sardinian provinces rank last in terms of reported crimes per resident . This is what emerges from the new edition of Il Sole 24 Ore's crime index, published today in the newspaper and on its website. The index uses consolidated statistics from the joint database of the Ministry of the Interior's Department of Public Security and compares 106 provincial areas based on reported crimes per 100,000 inhabitants.
Reported crimes in Italy are decreasing for the first time after four consecutive years of growth : in 2025, they totaled approximately 2.36 million, 1.8% less than in 2024, equivalent to 42,242 fewer crimes. Thefts and robberies are decreasing, especially, while scams and cyber fraud are increasing. Among the negative figures is also the increase in the number of minors arrested and reported (+34%) .
Milan remains the province with the highest incidence of complaints per resident, followed by Florence and Rome.
The national decline is primarily driven by thefts, which fell to 992,660, nearly 62,000 fewer than in 2024 (-5.9%). They fell below one million for the first time since 2022 and accounted for 42.1% of reported crimes. Thefts from parked cars (-16.2%), residential thefts (-8.7%), and thefts by hand (-6%) all decreased. Robberies also decreased (-3.6%), including those on public streets (-7.7%). However, cyber fraud and scams are on the rise, reaching 298,651 cases, 4.4% more than in 2024 and 40.8% more than in 2019. Damages are also on the rise, reaching 288,938 (+3.9%), as are assaults (+3.4%), and extortions (+1.4%). Reports of sexual violence are decreasing (-2.8%) after years of the phenomenon gradually emerging. Intentional homicides are down from 326 to 289 (-11.3%): the lowest figure in the historical series since 1950, equaling the only figure recorded in 2020 during the pandemic . Attempted homicides are down 13.1%, to 993. The total number of reported crimes in 2025 remains 2.4% higher than in 2019.
The top ten positions for crime reports per 100,000 inhabitants are occupied, in order, by the provinces of Milan, Florence, Rome, Bologna, Turin, Rimini, Genoa, Prato, Venice, and Livorno . The territories of the 14 metropolitan cities account for a total of 47.4% of reported crimes in Italy. Milan exceeds 7,000 reports per 100,000 residents, a 0.6% increase compared to 2024. Florence, second with 6,374 reports per 100,000 inhabitants, saw a 2.9% decrease. Reports also decreased in Rome (-5.3%), Bologna (-0.3%), and Turin (-4.3%).
At the other end of the scale is Oristano, with 1,707 reports per 100,000 inhabitants (about a quarter of the figure for Milan), followed by Potenza (1,968), Enna (2,165) and Benevento (2,177) .
Minors
In 2025, reports of minors reported or arrested will reach 39,600, compared to 38,247 in 2024: 34% more than in 2019. They represent 4.7% of the total reports relating to persons. For public robberies, the share of minors reaches 25.8%. Sondrio records the highest incidence of reports relating to minors in the province (9.7%), followed by Modena (8.3%).
Reports of foreign citizens reported or arrested totaled 292,820, equal to 35.1% of the total, compared to 34.7% in 2024. Milan, Rome, Turin, and Bologna together accounted for 25% of the reports involving foreigners. In Prato, this share of the provincial total reached approximately 60%.
Sardinia
Oristano is last, ranked 106th in terms of complaints per 100,000 inhabitants, at 1,707 per 100,000 . However, the other Sardinian provinces are also among the safest in Italy: Cagliari is in eightieth place (2,749 complaints per 100,000 inhabitants, +200 compared to 2024), Nuoro is 78th (2,760), and Sassari is 72nd (2,881.9) . While in Cagliari and Oristano, the number of complaints has increased slightly compared to 2024, in Nuoro and Sassari it has decreased.
Specifically, Cagliari ranks seventh for property damage, followed by arson (a crime for which all Sardinian provinces rank high), and 13th for exploitation of prostitution and child pornography . Nuoro ranks tenth for intentional homicides (last year it was first in Italy), ninth for attempted homicides, and sixth for workplace-related homicides. Oristano ranks fourth for workplace-related homicides, seventh for road homicides, and sixth for extortion.
(Unioneonline/L)
