As many as 12 per cent of Britons travelling overseas have been victims of crime in the last five years, figures have shown.
Most of the incidents involved theft of personal belongings but one per cent of travellers suffered physical or sexual assaults, the InsureandGo company revealed.
The majority of crimes took place in Europe, with visitors to Spain suffering the most.
Almost twice as many crimes against Britons have occurred in Spain as in the second-most "dangerous" country - France.