The city states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen were the states with the three highest crime rates in Germany in 2020, while the federal state of Bavaria had the lowest. Urban areas generally have higher crime rates than rural ones, making it difficult to compare Germany's three city states with the much larger federal states, which typically cover quite large areas. The federal state with the highest crime rate was Saxony-Anhalt at 7996 crimes per 100 thousand people, compared with the German average of 6209.

The crime rate in Germany for 2022 was 6,762 crimes per 100,000 people, making it the first time in seven years in which the crime rate rose compared to the year before. Between 2000 and 2004 the crime rate in Germany increased from 7,625 to 8,037, before declining to 7,253 by 2010. The years between 2010 and 2015 saw an increase in the crime rate, but after 2015, the recent trend of declining crime started, leading to the generally low figures seen in the most recent years. While the uptick in the crime rate in 2022 marks a negative turn compared with these years, the overall crime rate is still much lower on average than in previous decades.

Crime rate highest in cities Germany’s sixteen states are made up of thirteen federal states, and three city states; Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen. These three city states had the highest regional crime rates in Germany, due to only covering urban areas which usually have higher crime rates than rural areas. The large federal state of Bavaria, in the southeast of Germany, had the lowest crime rate in the country at 4,698 crimes per 100,000 people in 2020. Baden-Württemberg, home to the black forest and the city of Stuttgart had the second-lowest crime rate per 100 thousand people in this year, at 4,944.

Since 2016, the number of crimes per 100,000 inhabitants has been on a downward trend and was at its lowest in 2021, although this was likely due to the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, crime rates have risen again. In 2023, the police recorded roughly 7,000 criminal offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. Youth criminal suspects Since the number of crimes is increasing, so is the number of suspects. Concerningly, the number of juvenile suspects has seen a rather significant increase and is currently at its highest rate since 2016. Suspects who are considered in the juvenile category are aged 14 to 17 years old. In Germany, children under the age of 14 cannot be prosecuted and if they commit a crime, then social services usually step in to try and help. In general, punishments for those convicted are much more lenient as it is often considered that due to their age, they may not have been aware of the repercussions of their actions. For example, regardless of the crime committed, no child under the age of 18 can be tried as an adult. In contrast, in England and Wales, there were around 3,600 people aged between 15 and 20 in prison. Crimes solving rate With a higher crime rate, it is also important to consider how many crimes are solved. Once a crime is solved, the hope is that the victim can get some type of closure and answers, and also that the perpetrator faces justice for the crimes they committed. In 2023, the police solved around 3.47 million crimes in Germany and for the past three years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of crimes solved. Some cases are, of course, easier to solve than others. Crimes of arson and other fire-hazard-related crimes had a comparably low clearance rate at around 46 percent. In contrast, drug-related offenses were much more frequently solved. Even though 2023 saw the lowest clearance rate in 20 years, it was still at 91 percent.

Germany crime rate per 100K population for 2021 was 0.83, a 11.21% decline from 2020.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Germany crime rate per 100K population for 2020 was <strong>0.94</strong>, a <strong>25.24% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>Germany crime rate per 100K population for 2019 was <strong>0.75</strong>, a <strong>21.18% decline</strong> from 2018.</li>
<li>Germany crime rate per 100K population for 2018 was <strong>0.95</strong>, a <strong>3.39% decline</strong> from 2017.</li>
</ul>Intentional homicides are estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.

Context

Berlin is a special city, multicultural city. And the crime image is special there.

Content

For example there are no bloody drug wars, ghetto or neighborhoods where police afraid to get. Crimes like "deprivation of liberty" and "treat" are in one column. But "larceny" - separated to 4 categories: theft of bikes, of auto, from auto (sic!) and rest kind of theft. Particular column for "Damage to property due graffiti" (Sach-beschädigung durch Graffiti (sic!). Numbers of crimes are connected with every single neighborhood of Berlin's part. Statistics covering period of 2012 - 2019 years.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks for assistance in translation to Alexei Klaus, Germany.

Inspiration

Questions to community: 1) what part of Berlin is most dangerous? 2) what crimes are growing? 3) what crimes are going low? 4) would be great to build Folium based heatmap.

The number of crimes recorded in Germany in 2023 was 5.94 million, approximately 310,000 more crimes than in the previous year. From 2000 onwards, the number of crimes in Germany has fluctuated, peaking in 2004 at 6.63 million, and reaching it's lowest levels in the most recent year.

In 2023, there were 214 murders in Germany, and 490 attempted murders resulting in 704 murder cases in that year, compared with 662 cases in the previous year. Between 2000 and 2012, there was a net decrease of 300 murder cases a year in Germany, but in recent years that trend has been reversed, with 2018 showing the largest year-on-year increase in this time period.

The study on perceptions of crime in Germany was conducted by infratest dimap on behalf of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. During the survey period 29.10.2020 to 12.12.2020, 3023 eligible voters were interviewed by telephone (CATI) on the following topics: locus of control, Internet use, problem perception of crime, perception of crime development, sense of security, avoidance/protection behavior, experiences of victimization, measures to combat crime, new investigation methods, trust in institutions, proximity/dislike of political parties, Sunday question. Respondents were selected by stratified random sampling (dual-frame sample) including a regional increase in the regions bordering Poland, the Czech Republic and in large eastern German cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants (excluding Berlin).
Locus of Control (little control over things that happen in my life, life course depends on myself); frequency of internet use; party preference (Sunday question); Sunday question second preference; problem perception crime; perception of crime development; feeling of safety and insecurity in various situations (in the flat or house, in the neighbourhood or district, in public places, at stations and stops, in public transport such as buses, trains, trams); individual feeling of insecurity (fear of internet fraud, fear of a violent crime, fear of a house being broken into and of theft); own precautions to protect against crime (avoidance of certain streets, squares or parks after dark, carrying irritant gas, knife or other weapon for defence, securing the flat with an additional lock on the house or flat door, self-defence learned); avoidance and protective behaviour against fraud on the internet (use special software programmes, do not open e-mails from unknown persons, avoid shopping on the internet); fear of a terrorist attack in Germany in the next 12 months; concrete victimisation experience (home burglary, being robbed in public secretly or under threat of violence, being harassed or accosted in public, being cheated on the internet, being beaten or subjected to other forms of physical violence, being physically sexually harassed); frequency of the victimisation experience; positioning on the topic of protection against crime (above all, the state must provide protection against crime vs. each individual must protect themselves from crime; positioning on the topic of European integration (European integration should go further and the countries should grow together even more in the European Union vs. European integration has already gone too far and the countries should remain more for themselves); agreement with various statements (most people can be trusted, immigration opportunities for foreigners should be made more difficult, police must be visible on streets and squares to prevent crime, private security is a good measure to prevent crime, with higher penalties there would be significantly less crime, to protect against crime it is important to me that the state can access private data, everyone who crosses a border into Germany should be checked again, also citizens of the European Union, so that the state can solve crimes, in principle more data should be stored long-term, if people go to a prostitute they should be punished for it); approval of proposed new investigative methods of the police to solve crimes (use of automated facial recognition in public places, train stations and airports, storage of car licence plates on major roads, unrestricted access to connection data of computers, unrestricted access to connection data of telephones, video surveillance of public places); trust in institutions (German Bundestag, German Federal Government, courts, police, Office for the Protection of the Constitution); closeness to or dislike of political parties (CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP, Die Linke, Bündnis90 / Die Grünen, Alternative für Deutschland / AfD).

Demography: sex; age; age grouped; household size; number of persons in the household under 18; employment status; job security; unemployment longer than 6 months; religious denomination; frequency of churchgoing; income of the neighbourhood; perceived proportion of foreigners in the neighbourhood; education; migration background of the respondent and parents; assessment of the household´s income situation; ability to afford short-term purchases.

Additionally coded were: Interview no.; sex of interviewer; weighting factor; region (federal state); place size (political municipality size; district code / district; increase: border areas Czech Republic / Poland; increase (East German) large cities.

The number of rape and sexual assault cases reported to the police in Germany peaked at 12,186 in 2023 during the period shown here. Previously, the highest number of cases, 11,896, had been recorded the year before. Based on the definition in criminal law, sexual assault includes rape, as well as other sexually driven physical attacks. Rape is defined as forcing a person to have sex. Increased crime clearance rate The question remains how high the number of unreported cases is. Reasons for not reporting a sexual assault vary among victims. In recent years, the German police reported increasing clearance rates for sexual crimes. In 2022, 83.7 percent of rape and sexual assault cases were solved, compared to 78.6 percent in 2016. In 2023, however this figure dropped to 83.4 percent, perhaps due to the increase in the number of cases. Among males suspected of committing such crimes,over 75 percent were young adults aged 18 to 21 years. Types of German police forces German police forces are divided into several different types, which all have clearly established tasks regulated by law. The Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) is often compared to the FBI in the U.S. and investigates federal crimes, such as kidnapping. The Federal Police (Bundespolizei), works in railway stations, at airports, and seaports. They also protect borders, government buildings, and deal with organized crime and terrorism. The criminal police (Kriminalpolizei, Kripo), the only policemen not wearing in uniform in Germany, handle assault, murder, and rape cases, as well as theft. The uniformed police (Schutzpolizei, SchuPo), or beat police, are regularly visible in streets, as they are responsible for traffic safety, among other tasks, and may be approached directly by people in need of assistance or help.

In 2023, Berlin had a 45.5 percent clearance rate regarding criminal offences. This was an increase on the previous year at 44.9 percent. Figures have been fluctuating during the timeline shown.

The metadata set does not comprise any description or summary. The information has not been provided.

General political attitudes. Opinion on current political issues. Political tasks.

Topics: the main problem in Germany; party sympathy; interest in politics; general development in the country in the right direction; average intensity of the activities of the federal government in terms of long-term problems; political tasks: importance of improvements in selected policy areas and assessment of the progress of the federal government in these areas; importance of improvements in digitization and evaluation of the progress of the federal government in these area; refugees or asylum seekers in the residential area; rather positive, rather negative or no experience with refugees in the residential area and in Germany; attitude towards refugees in Germany (increase in crime, better demand for qualified workers, cultural enrichment, expected return of most refugees to their home country, Germany financially cannot afford the refugees, good accommodation and care, help against ageing population).

Demography: age (categorized); sex; marital status; living together with a partner; highest educational degree or aspired degree; academic degree; graduation; employment status; job security; occupational position; household size; number of persons in the household aged 18 and over; union member in the household; confession; frequency of church attendance; number of phone numbers in the household.

Also encoded was: respondent-ID; federal state; district assignment Berlin West/East; city size; weighting factor.