Several factors are driving the upward trend in German crime

Last year, the German police recorded the highest number of crimes since 2016, and violent crime also increased during the same period.

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which released the data on Tuesday, pointed to three factors that may have contributed to the increase: ongoing post-pandemic effects, price increases and a short-term increase in migration, leading to fewer integration opportunities for individual migrants .

In 2023, the police in Germany registered around 5.94 million crimes, 5.5% more than in the previous year. Excluding migration-related violations, the increase is still 4.4%. There were no significant changes in the law that could explain the increase.

In 2022, the increase in crime was even greater. Police recorded around 5.63 million crimes, an increase of 11.5%. This was largely attributed to a statistical effect due to some crimes becoming significantly less common during the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2020 and 2021, opportunities for crimes such as pickpocketing have decreased due to government measures to combat the pandemic.

The number of violent crimes rose by 8.6% to almost 214,100 cases in 2023, more than in any year since 2007. The number of foreign suspects rose by 14.5%, the number of German suspects rose by 2.2%.

Studies show that crime victims are more likely to report crimes if they suspect the perpetrator is a foreigner.

The crime rate in Germany fell between 2017 and 2021, but the trend has been increasing since then.