Violent crime in Germany increased by 1.5% in 2024, reaching 217,277 cases, according to police statistics set to be presented by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on April 2, as reported by WELT am SONNTAG.
The data highlights several key trends:
Murders, intentional homicides, and assisted killings rose by 0.9%, totaling 2,303 cases.
Sexual offenses, including rape and coercion into sexual acts, surged by 9.3% to 13,320 cases.
Serious and dangerous bodily harm increased by 2.4%, reaching 158,177 cases.
Knife attacks accounted for 15,741 incidents.
However, the number of robberies declined by 3.7%, totaling 43,194 cases.
Police link the overall rise in violent crime to an increase in suspects without German citizenship (85,012 individuals, up 7.5% from the previous year) and a surge in juvenile (+11.3%) and teenage (+3.8%) crime.
Despite these figures, overall crime decreased by 1.7%, totaling 5.837 million cases (including violations of immigration laws). The clearance rate for crimes reached 58%. Out of 2.184 million suspects, 913,196 were non-citizens, including 383,844 asylum seekers and illegal migrants.
A significant factor in the overall decline in crime is the legalization of cannabis, which led to a 34.2% drop in drug-related offenses, bringing the total to 228,104 cases.
The report also notes that nearly one-third of all crimes involve theft, including bicycle theft and shoplifting.
When examining regional crime rates, Bavaria emerges as the safest state, with 4,218 crimes per 100,000 residents, while Bremen is the most dangerous, recording 14,998 crimes per 100,000 residents. Berlin ranks second in crime rates, with 14,719 crimes per 100,000 people.
