The country presents significant differences between regions when analyzing the levels of safety-related incidents. A recent study identifies the island of Porto Santo, in the Madeira archipelago (which is opposite Morocco), as one of the areas with the fewest incidents recorded in the country, standing out among several territories analyzed.
According to Diário de Notícias, which cites the Security Barometer from the company Verisure Portugal, the island territory maintains “the lowest levels of incidents”, being considered “one of the safest areas in Portugal”. The island of Terceira, in the Azores, also appears in the same group, which presents similar indicators.
A portrait of security in the territory
The annual study seeks to analyze the evolution of security in the country and observe geographic patterns of occurrences. According to the same source, the report evaluates data collected through the company’s Alarm Receiving Center throughout 2025.
The analysis is based on the supervision of more than one million pieces of equipment that are continuously monitored. As the website explains, this system operates without interruption, 24 hours a day and throughout the year.
The geographic portrait presented by the study points to clear differences between regions of the country. According to the same newspaper, territories with lower population density are often associated with lower levels of occurrences.
The report states that “districts with lower population density such as Guarda and Bragança” have fewer recorded incidents. He also adds that island territories, such as the island of Terceira and Porto Santo, follow this trend.
Large cities concentrate more incidents
In urban areas, the distribution of incidents remains more concentrated. According to the same source, Lisbon, Porto, Setúbal and Faro accounted for around 66% of the incidents recorded in 2025.
Lisbon continues to be the city with the highest number of cases, representing more than 31% of the total. Even so, writes the publication, the capital registered a “slight reduction of around 1%”, in line with the trend already identified in the 2024 Annual Homeland Security Report.
North of the country presents declines
Some northern cities recorded significant improvements in indicators. Porto showed a drop of close to 20% in occurrences compared to 2024, says the publication. Aveiro and Braga recorded even more significant reductions, close to 27%. According to the same source, this evolution suggests a tendency towards a decrease in crime in the main cities of the north.
The study also analyzes the types of spaces most affected by the incidents. According to , small businesses continue to represent a significant part of registered cases. The data indicates that these establishments correspond to around 57% of the total occurrences, surpassing the residential segment. The analysis adds that stores and restaurants are among the spaces most targeted in attempted robberies.
In the specific case of Madeira, the report cited by the newspaper also states, around 77% of the security company’s customers are residential and 23% are companies. Among the incidents recorded, around 60% resulted from triggered alarms and approximately 40% were related to medical emergencies.
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