Hong Kong remains one of the safest cities in the world, according to the United Nations International Crime Victim Survey (UNICV) on the Crime Victimization in Hong Kong.

The survey was carried out from February to June 2006, by the HKU Centre for Criminology and Social Sciences Research Centre (SSRC), with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the University of Tilburg's Centre for International Crime Victimization.

A total of 2,283 Hong Kong household members aged 16 or above responded to the computer-assisted telephone interviews.

As the fifth sweep of the UNICV, the 2005/06 survey involved over 30 countries and regions, ranging from South America, Africa, Europe to the Asia Pacific. Participating in the survey for the first time, Hong Kong stands out as a city with a remarkably low crime rate, compared to most other Asian and Western economies.

On property crimes, only 0.4 per cent Hong Kong respondents came across burglary in 2005, in comparison to 1.7 per cent in Sweden and 2.7 per cent in the United States. About 2.2 per cent Hong Kong car owners encountered theft from their cars, versus 3.1 per cent in Japan and 4.2 per cent in England and Wales.

The survey found 3.6 per cent Hong Kong respondents experienced personal theft in 2005, while the figures stood at 6.5 per cent in Australia and 5.3 in Poland. Only 1.2 per cent Hong Kong males and females suffered personal assaults, contrasting the 6.1 per cent in England and Wales and 6.4 per cent in Australia.

The overall crime victimization was fairly insignificant in Hong Kong last year, as only 8 per cent of respondents reported at least one standard crime in 2005, noted Roderic Broadhurst, head of Justice Studies, Queensland University of Technology.

Absence of corruption

"Another significant finding is the absence of corruption in Hong Kong, since none of the respondents reported corruption," said Broadhurst. "It's the first time I witnessed zero corruption in a random survey on crime rate."

Consumer fraud, however, may be on the rise in Hong Kong, since 21 per cent respondents experienced it through various channels last year, including shopping and telecommunications. The figure stood much higher than that in Japan (2.3 per cent) or Canada (7.5), and was only second to Cambodia (34 per cent).

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