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 ***** 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 ************ 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 ***** 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 **** 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 ** 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 ** percent.

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.

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 and Benjamin Proksch, 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.

The number of rape and sexual assault cases reported to the police in Germany peaked at ****** in 2024 during the period shown here. Previously, the highest number of cases, ******, 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, **** percent of rape and sexual assault cases were solved, compared to **** percent in 2016. In 2023, however this figure dropped to **** percent, perhaps due to the increase in the number of cases. Among males suspected of committing such crimes, over ** 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.

On the basis of police history statistics (data warehouse management information), data on bicycle theft offences are made available on a daily basis at the level of the planning rooms. The data for the current year up to the day before the update as well as the data for the entire previous year are included, provided that the crime time (in the case of crime periods) can be limited to a maximum of three days.

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.

Comparable study "Crime Data Halle 1987" archived under ZA Study No. 6446.

Crimes and social-demographic characteristics of criminals. Topics: Year of birth; sex; offense; occupation; qualification; detention awaiting trial and its duration; number of relapses; influence of alcohol; degree of organization of criminal; decision; district.

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.

Crimes and social-demographic characteristics of criminals. Topics: Year of birth; sex; offense; occupation; qualification; detention awaiting trial and its duration; number of relapses; influence of alcohol; degree of organization of criminal; decision; district.

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

The statistic above provides information about the homicide rate for the most populous city in each European country in 2012. In 2012, the homicide rate in Berlin stood at * per 100,000 population.