As Brussels grapples with a surge in violent crime, new figures place the Belgian capital among the most dangerous regions in the European Union.
According to Eurostat, Brussels recorded 3.19 intentional homicides per 100,000 people in 2023. That is the second-highest rate in the EU when compared with other major socio-economic regions.
In Latvia, which is classified as a comparable region for statistical purposes, the number is 4.2.
Belgium as a whole recorded a rate of 1.38, which is still the third-highest homicide rate in the EU after Latvia (4.2) and Lithuania (2.41).
The Eurostat category of ‘intentional homicide’ includes murder, deadly assault, assassination, terrorism, femicide, infanticide, voluntary manslaughter, extrajudicial killings, and illegal killings by police or military forces.
The data come as the city’s chief public prosecutor Julien Moinil warned last week that the capital is on track for a record year of gun violence in 2025.
So far this year, Brussels has recorded 57 shootings, including 20 since the start of summer.
Police data show that in all of 2024, there were 92 incidents, which left nine people dead and 48 injured.
The most recent spate of violence this summer has already surpassed the toll of the first six weeks of 2025, when two people were killed and four wounded in 11 shootings.
Moinil revealed that 6,211 adult suspects and 874 minors have been indicted this year, three times as many as during the same period in 2024. Among them are 1,250 suspected drug dealers.
Addressing the violence, Moinil stressed that investigators are making progress, but that problems cannot be fixed straight away.
People should not think that the Justice Department isn’t doing its job. However, the consequences of 10 or 15 years of lax policies are not something that can be fixed in 6 months.
The prosecutor reiterated his call for greater resources to tackle drug-related crime, pointing to persistent staff shortages at the federal judicial police.
He also called for faster deportation procedures for foreign nationals who have been convicted of crimes and do not hold residence permits who are convicted of crimes.
Rival drug gangs, mostly of North African origin, have increasingly dominated parts of the capital in recent years.
The port of Antwerp, just 55 kilometres north of Brussels, has become a major hub for cocaine imports into Europe and has been targeted by grenade attacks linked to organised crime.
Citizens’ groups in Brussels have complained of worsening lawlessness in certain neighbourhoods and are demanding a stronger police presence.
According to a recent survey, nearly one in five residents of Brussels now feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood—double the national average and up three points since 2021.
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin has described crime in the capital as a systemic problem that needs a systemic response.
