Police: Multiple factors driving upward trend in German crime

German police recorded the highest number of crimes last year since 2016, with violent crime also rising over the same period.

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) which released the data on Tuesday pointed to three factors that could have contributed to the rise: ongoing post-pandemic effects, price rises and increased migration over a short period leading to fewer integration opportunities for individual migrants.

Police recorded around 5.94 million crimes in Germany over the course of 2023, 5.5% up on the year. Excluding infringements related to migration, the rise still comes in at 4.4%. There were no significant changes to the law that could explain the rise.

The rise in criminality was even greater in 2022. Police recorded around 5.63 million crimes, equivalent to a rise of 11.5%. This was attributed largely to a statistical effect, caused by the fact that some crime during the coronavirus pandemic was far less frequent.

During 2020 and 2021, opportunities for crimes such as pickpocketing declined as a result of official measures to counter the pandemic.

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

Studies reveal that victims of crime are more likely to report crime where they suspect that the perpetrator is a foreigner.

Over the years 2017 to 2021, crime levels declined in Germany, but the trend since then has been upward.