Switzerland records record levels of theft in 2023
Published: Monday, Mar 25th 2024, 12:20
Updated At: Monday, Mar 25th 2024, 11:21
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In Switzerland, the number of criminal offenses rose by 14% last year to 522,558. Almost 70 percent of the crimes committed were crimes against property. More than half of these were thefts, including vehicle theft. There was also a significant increase in the area of digital crime.
There was a 71.4 percent increase in theft from or from a vehicle to 18,192 offenses. These are the highest figures since the statistics were introduced in 2009, according to the police crime statistics published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Monday. As in the previous year, burglaries and thefts by intrusion also increased by almost 16% in 2023. In 2023, the police registered 114 burglaries and thefts per day.
Such petty crimes would cause a great deal of work for the police forces, said Mark Burkhard, President of the Conference of Cantonal Police Commanders (KKPKS), also on Monday. A lack of data exchange between the cantonal and communal police forces makes it more difficult to recognize serial offenders in good time and pursue them accordingly. The KKPKS is therefore calling for a national database to combat serial crime.
Digital crime on the rise
Fraud cases reached their highest level in 15 years with 29,314 offenses. Around 80 percent of fraud offenses took place digitally. According to the FSO, digital crime recorded an increase of almost a third last year. This corresponds to a total of 43,839 crimes.
The majority of cases can be attributed to cyber-economic crime, which also increased by more than a third last year, the report continued. The reason for this is the significant increase in cases of phishing (up 69.8 percent), misuse of online payment systems (up 66.1 percent) and goods paid for but not delivered from classified ad platforms (up 23.1 percent). Cyber sexual offenses decreased by 7.4% after an increase in 2022, which corresponds to 209 fewer crimes.
With a share of 8.4% of all registered criminal offenses in Switzerland, the figures for cybercrimes are comparatively low, but are associated with particularly high offense totals and other damage such as the publication of sensitive data, business failures or loss of reputation. In addition, the prosecution of cybercrimes is complex and poses particular challenges for law enforcement authorities, wrote the CCPSS.
Maximum value for serious acts of violence
According to the FSO, the number of violent crimes remained at a similar level to the previous five years. However, there was a six percent increase in serious violent crimes, the highest figure since the statistics were introduced in 2009.
Last year, homicides rose by over a quarter to 53 cases. Just under half of these were committed in the home. This proportion is again lower than in previous years. The victims included 14 women and two men from (former) partnerships as well as four girls, two women and three men from family or relatives.
There were further increases in attempted homicide (up 17.4 percent) and grievous bodily harm (up 15.5 percent). Rape (down 3.2 percent) and aggravated robbery (down 25 percent) decreased.
Increase in all age groups
According to the FSO, a total of 90,403 people were charged with a criminal offense by the police in 2023. There was a slight increase in all age groups - minors, young adults and adults over the age of 24. Adults over the age of 24 accounted for almost three quarters of all accused persons, which is the highest figure since 2009.
Slightly less than half of the accused persons are Swiss nationals (minus 2.7% compared to the previous year) and just under a third are foreign nationals with a permanent residence or residence permit (minus 0.9%). 6.6 percent of the registered suspects were asylum seekers (up 2.4 percent), temporarily admitted persons or persons in need of protection. The remaining almost 18 percent (plus 1.1 percent) are attributable to the non-permanent population.
The results of the police crime statistics only include crimes known to the police. The statistics do not contain any data on unreported cases. The results are an indirect measurement of crime in Switzerland based on the number of crimes registered by the police.
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