In 2022, there was a reduction in theft crimes by 11 percent compared to 10 years ago. On the other hand, the number of property damage cases increased by five percent and fraud crimes by three percent. In 2022, around 1.5 million crimes were committed in Sweden.

Types of crime

The most common crime in Sweden in 2022 was theft crime, which accounted for 27 percent of all crimes. Crimes against people was the second largest type of crime, which accounted for 20 percent of all crimes. On the other hand, traffic crimes made up only five percent of the crimes committed in Sweden that year.

 Theft crimes

While theft crimes made up the largest share of reported crimes, only one percent reported to have been victims of thefts in Sweden. On the other hand, eight percent reported to have been threatened at some point.

The crime rate in Sweden was around 15,000 per 100,000 inhabitants from 2010 to 2020. However it fell in both 2021 and 2022. The total number of crimes also decreased in 2021.

Increased use of firearms

While Sweden usually is perceived as a peaceful country to live in, it has received unwanted attention in recent years for increasing gang violence and incidents involving the use of firearms. In 2022, the country recorded its highest number of shootings and its highest number of fatal-shootings.

The perpetrators

A high majority of the crime suspects in Sweden are men. In 2021, more than three in four crime suspects were men. In terms of age, 30-49-year-olds made up the highest share of suspects.

This is a dataset on reported swedish crime statistics from 1950 to 2023 taken from https://bra.se/bra-in-english/home/crime-and-statistics/crime-statistics.html

The dataset includes - Total number of crimes - Life and Death crimes - Murder, Manslaughter and lethal assault - Assault/Aggravated Assult - Sexual Offences - Rape, Aggravated Rape - Theft, Robbery, Stealing - Burglary not involving firearm - Burglary in flats, Private Houses - Vehicle theft - Theft out of a motor vehicle - Theft from shops, Department stores etc. - Robbery, Aggravated robbery - Fraud and other acts of dishonesty - Criminal Damage - Narcotics - Driving under the influence

Things to consider:

1 Statistic figures on reported completed murder and manslaughter are higher than the actual number of murder and manslaughter.

2 Year 1950-1984 also including "sexual violation".

3 Year 1965-1967 also including burglary involving fire arms, ammunition and explosives.

4 Including crimes against the Narcotics Regulation year 1950-1983. From 1 July 1983 crimes against the Narcotics Regulation is covered by the Narcotics Drugs (Penal) Act section 5a.

5 Since 1 July 1999 also including driving under the influence of illicit drugs.

6 Four cases of embezzlement reported in 1996 covered appx 24'500 offences.

7 Statistics on crimes against creditors (Penal code ch. 11) and tax crimes are incomplete year 1998 and 1999 due incomplete reporting to Brå.

8 Data for year 1999 and 2000 may have been affected by a system change in year 1999/2000.

9 Excluding data where crime is uncategorized. These data were removed from the statistics from year 2003.

The number of reported violent crimes in Sweden increased from 2014 to 2021, before falling slightly in 2022 and 2023. Overall, **** million crimes were reported in Sweden in 2023.

Historical dataset showing Sweden crime rate per 100K population by year from 1990 to 2021.

Context

Swedish crime statistics from 1950 to 2015

Content

This data set contains statistics on reported crimes in Sweden (by 100.000) from 1950 to 2015. It contains the following columns:

1. crimes.total: total number of reported crimes
2. crimes.penal.code: total number of reported crimes against the criminal code
3. crimes.person: total number of reported crimes against a person
4. murder: total number of reported murder
5. sexual.offences: total number of reported sexual offences
6. rape: total number of reported rapes
7. assault: total number of reported aggravated assaults
8. stealing.general: total number of reported crimes involving stealing or robbery
9. robbery: total number of reported armed robberies
10. burglary: total number of reported armed burglaries
11. vehicle.theft: total number of reported vehicle thefts
12. house.theft: total number of reported theft inside a house
13. shop.theft: total number of reported theft inside a shop
14. out.of.vehicle.theft: total number of reported theft from a vehicle
15. criminal.damage: total number of reported criminal damages
16. other.penal.crimes: number of other penal crime offenses
17. fraud: total number of reported frauds
18. narcotics: total number of reported narcotics abuses
19. drunk.driving: total number of reported drunk driving incidents
20. Year: the year
21. population: the total estimated population of Sweden at the time

Acknowledgements

Raw data taken from: https://www.bra.se/bra/bra-in-english/home/crime-and-statistics/crime-statistics.html

The region with highest number of homicides in Sweden in 2022 was the region of Stockholm, where 38 deaths by homicide were registered. Region South ranked second by number of homicides, with Region West following in third. The lowest number of homicides were recorded in the Northern Region and Region Bergslagen. The number of homicides in Sweden was roughly the same in 2021 as in 2022.

Sweden - Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area was 9.40% in December of 2023, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Sweden - Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area - last updated from the EUROSTAT on October of 2025. Historically, Sweden - Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area reached a record high of 14.40% in December of 2018 and a record low of 9.40% in December of 2023.

In 2023, there were almost ****** men suspected of crimes against another person. Comparably, around ****** women were suspected of the same crime. Moreover, around ***** women were suspected of narcotics offenses, compared to nearly ****** men.

Sweden has witnessed an increase in the rates of sexual crimes including rape. Knowledge of who the offenders of these crimes are is therefore of importance for prevention. We aimed to study characteristics of individuals convicted of rape, aggravated rape, attempted rape or attempted aggravated rape (abbreviated rape+), against a woman ≥18 years of age, in Sweden. By using information from the Swedish Crime Register, offenders between 15 and 60 years old convicted of rape+ between 2000 and 2015 were included. Information on substance use disorders, previous criminality and psychiatric disorders were retrieved from Swedish population-based registers, and Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used to identify classes of rape+ offenders. A total of 3 039 offenders were included in the analysis. A majority of them were immigrants (n = 1 800; 59.2%) of which a majority (n = 1 451; 47.7%) were born outside of Sweden. The LCA identified two classes: Class A — low offending class (LOC), and Class B — high offending class (HOC). While offenders in the LOC had low rates of previous criminality, psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders, those included in the HOC had high rates of previous criminality, psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders. While HOC may be composed by more “traditional” criminals probably known by the police, the LOC may represent individuals not previously known by the police. These two separated classes, as well as our finding in regard to a majority of the offenders being immigrants, warrants further studies that take into account the contextual characteristics among these offenders. Key pointsRape, aggravated rape, attempted rape or attempted aggravated rape (rape+) are increasing in Sweden.The majority of those convicted of rape+ are immigrants.LCA identifies two classes of rape+ offenders: LOC and HOC. Rape, aggravated rape, attempted rape or attempted aggravated rape (rape+) are increasing in Sweden. The majority of those convicted of rape+ are immigrants. LCA identifies two classes of rape+ offenders: LOC and HOC.

More than half of students admit to committing crime during the past 12 months. Each documented year, almost ** percent state that they have participated in theft.

The number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in Sweden fluctuated over the past 20 years, but was usually around one. It was at its lowest in 2012, when 0.71 homicides per 100,000 inhabitant were registered, and at its highest in 2007 and 2020, reaching 1.2. In 2023, the homicide rate stood at 1.15. That year, 124 homicides were reported in Sweden.

Sweden - Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area: Above 60% of median equivalised income was 9.10% in December of 2023, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Sweden - Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area: Above 60% of median equivalised income - last updated from the EUROSTAT on December of 2025. Historically, Sweden - Population reporting occurrence of crime, violence or vandalism in their area: Above 60% of median equivalised income reached a record high of 14.20% in December of 2018 and a record low of 9.10% in December of 2023.

More men than women are victims of homicide in Sweden. The number of men who were killed in violent crimes increased from 2012 to 2015, but has remained more stable since. Meanwhile, the number of female homicide victims was usually between 25 and 30 during the past decade. In 2022, 93 men and 23 women were confirmed as homicide victims in Sweden. Compared to other European countries, Sweden's homicide rate was around the average.

Selection of time series of different scientific publications and of publication of the official statistics:

EUROSTAT, European Statistical Office OECD: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development; ONS: Office for National Statistics, England; SCB: Statistiska Centralbyran, Sweden; Federal Statistical Office, Wiesbaden. Deutschland; WHO: World Health Organization.

The Study’s Subject: The German Statistical Office of the German Empire compiled a comparative representation of different countrie’s crime statistics. In this context the statistical office was faced with the problem of diverging methodologies and classifications of the countrie’s crime statistics data collections. After World War 1 the “International Statistic Institute (ISI)” and the “International Penal Law and Prison Commission” (IPPC) ) resumed their research activities in the fields of criminal statistics in international comparison. In this context the Statistical Office of the German Empire carried out an investigation of 33 european and non-european countries with the aim to work out a comparative compilation of various criminalstatistical classifications. Is was established that at the time of preparation a comparison of different classifications a comparable international data compilation could not be gathered due to significant differences between the classifications. Finally from the 33 countries it could be compiled time series on criminal statisics only for a small selection of countries. The reason for this situation was the lack of data material for many countries. Therefore, the development of crime could be presented in form of time series for the following countries: - Austria- England and Wales- France- German Empire- Sweden- Canada- Japan In terms of the crime statistical objective data on lawsuit processes (for example the number of criminal proceedings) has not been incorporated. Furthermore, no data on the military criminal justice are included in the data compilation. The following information, which was available in the statistics, has been taken from the statistics for the data compilation: Information on the persons, who has been accused or convicted: Number of persons totally, by gender, teenagers or adults.Information on the offences the persons were accused for: accused or convicted by groups of offences or single selected offences.The sentences imposed as results of lawsuit processes are not included in this data compilation. Data tables in HISTAT (Thema: Kriminaltiät): A. Österreich (Austria) A.1 Rechtskräftig Verurteilte nach Geschlecht (Legally convicted by sex)A.2 Rechtskräftig Verurteilte wegen Verbrechen nach ausgewählten Deliktarten (Legally convicted of crimes by selected types of offences)A.3 Rechtskräftig Verurteilte wegen Verbrechen und Übertretungen zusammen nach ausgewählten Deliktarten (Legally convicted of crimes and violations by selected types of offences)A.4 Verurteilte auf 100.000 Strafmündige nach ausgewählten Deliktarten (Kriminalitätsziffern) (Convicted per 100.000 of population of the age of criminal responsibility by selected offences (crime rate)) B. England und Wales (England and Wales)B.1 Angeklagte wegen schwerer Vergehen vor Schwurgerichten und Vierteljahressitzungen nach Deliktarten (Accuesed of heavy offences at the jury court (Assizes) and at the „Quarter Sessions“ by types of offences)B.2 Angeklagte wegen schwerer und leichter Vergehen vor allen Gerichten insgesamt und vor den Gerichten für summarische Rechtsprechung (Accused of heavy offences and of petty offences at all types of courts and at courts of summary jurisdiction)B.3 Angeklagte und Verurteilte nach Geschlecht C. Frankreich (France) C.1 Verhandlungen vor Schwurgerichten (Hearings at the jury courts)C.1.1 Angeklagte vor Schwurgerichte nach Geschlecht (Accused at jury courts by gender)C.1.2 Anzahl der Verurteilten durch Schwurgerichte (Number of convicted by the jury court)C.1.3 Erhobene Anklagen nach Deliktart vor Schwurgerichten (Prosecutions by types of offences at the jury court) C.2 Verhandlungen vor Strafgerichten (Hearings at the tribunal court)C.2.1 Angeklagte vor und Verurteilte der Strafgerichte insgesamt (Accused and convicted of tribunal courts, totaly)C.2.2 Anklagen vor Strafgerichte nach Deliktarten (Prosecutions at the tribunal court by types of offences) D. Deutsches Reich (German Empire) D.1 Abgeurteilte Personen und verurteilte Personen nach Geschlecht, Jugendliche und Vorbestrafte (1882-1927) (Persons judged and convicted persons by sex)D.2 Verurteilte Personen nach Deliktgruppen (1882-1927) (Convicted Persons by types of offences)D.3 Kriminalitätsziffern der verurteilten Personen - auf 100.000 der strafm. Bevölkerung (1882-1927) (Crime rate of convicted Persons – per 100.000 of population of the age of criminal responsibility)D.4 Kriminalitätsziffern der verurteilten Personen nach Deliktgruppe - auf 100.000 der strafm. Bevölkerung (1882-1927) (Crime Rate of convicted Persons by type of offence – per 100.000 of population of the age of criminal responsibility)D.5 Die Strafmündige Bevölkerung des Deutschen Reiches (1882-1928) (Population of the German Empire of the a...

a 95% CI = 95% Confidence Interval.b Compared to no residence in dry housing.c Compared to

a Two participants had not been assigned a subgroup membership and were therefore excluded from the analysis [4].b 95% CI = 95% Confidence Interval.c The subgroups were defined with reference to the term “triply troubled”, referring to individuals with a combination of mental health problems, substance use problems, and criminal behavior [4,40]. Membership of the subgroup “Working triply troubled” (i.e. the subgroup with low levels of employment problems and medium levels of alcohol-, psychiatric-, and legal problems) was used as a reference category. Each of the remaining subgroups was compared to this particular group (not shown in the table).d Subgroup with low degrees of various problems.e Subgroup with severe legal-, psychiatric-, alcohol-, drug- and family/social problems.f Subgroup with elevated legal-, medical-, psychiatric and drug problems.g Compared to

The share of murder cases being solved in Sweden varied between 16 and 26 percent over the last 10 years. The highest clearance rate was registered in 2016. In 2022, 17 percent of the registered murder cases were solved. Over the same period, the total number of homicides increased.

In 2022, more than half of the identified hate crimes were motivated by xenophobia and racism, ** percent of these were Afrophobic. Out of the hate crimes, ** percent were directed towards different religious groups, with Islamophobia representing ***** percent of these incidents. Hate crimes against LGBTQIA+ individuals accounted for ** percent of the reported incidents.