The number of both serious criminal offenses—murders and robberies involving a weapon or dangerous tool—and less dangerous but socially burdensome offenses, such as petty theft or property damage, declined.
Throughout 2015, the number of all recorded offenses amounted to 833,281, which was 9% less than a year earlier. In 2014, 915,081 offenses were recorded.
The decline in the number of offenses is particularly apparent when comparing an average day in 2014, when an average of 2,507 offenses occurred, with a day in 2015, when the average number of offenses was 2,283. The difference is clear—224 fewer offenses every day. When the number of criminal offenses is compared in the same way, the decline is 219.
The number of criminal offenses fell significantly—from 633,699 in 2014 to 553,767 in 2015, a decrease of 79,932. The number of economic crimes rose from 163,080 to 169,480, an increase of 6,400.
Declines were recorded in the group of offenses widely regarded as particularly burdensome for citizens. This group consists of seven selected types of offenses: bodily harm, fights and assaults, robbery offenses, theft of another person’s property and car theft, burglary, and property damage. Declines concerned every type of legal violation listed above.
The largest declines in offenses occurred in the following categories:
- fights and assaults
a decrease from 6,963 in 2014 to 5,550 in 2015. This was a decline of more than 20%, or 1,413 - robbery offenses
a decrease from 13,868 in 2014 to 10,210 in 2015. This was a decline of more than 26%, or 3,658 - property damage
a decrease from 47,360 in 2014 to 43,777 in 2015. This was a decline of more than 7%, or 3,583 - bodily harm
a decrease from 13,651 in 2014 to 11,362 in 2015. This was a decline of nearly 17%, or 2,289 - Burglary
a decrease from 106,902 in 2014 to 94,680 in 2015. This was a decline of more than 11%, or 12,222 - Theft of another person’s property
a decrease from 174,898 in 2014 to 150,800 in 2015. This was a decline of nearly 14%, or 24,098 - Car theft
a decrease from 14,123 in 2014 to 12,634 in 2015. This was a decline of more than 10%, or 1,489.
The number of other offenses against life and health also decreased:
- murders—nearly 6% fewer. This was a decrease from 532 in 2014 to 502 in 2015.
- rapes—more than 7% fewer, or 96 fewer incidents. This was a decrease from 1,329 in 2014 to 1,233 in 2015.
Road safety improved significantly. The number of traffic offenses in 2015 fell by 10,433, or 12%, compared with 2014. The total number of traffic offenses in 2015 was 76,642. The figure for the previous year, 2014, was higher at 87,085 (all traffic offenses).
Comparing traffic statistics for 2015 and 2014 shows a continuing downward trend in the number of accidents, injured people, and fatalities. Last year, there were 32,701 accidents—2,269 fewer than the previous year. In 2015, 2,904 people died on the roads, meaning 298 fewer fatalities than in 2014. The number of injured people also fell, reaching 39,457 in 2015, which was 3,088 fewer than in 2014. Compared with 2014, this means a nearly 7% decline in the number of traffic accidents, an approximately 10% decline in fatalities, and a decline of more than 7% in injuries.
Over the past 10 years, the detection rate has fluctuated between 60% and 70%. In 2015, it was 65.8%. The total number of suspects in 2015 was 319,399.
In juvenile crime, lower figures were recorded for the number of punishable acts—the decline was 13,860, meaning that the number of acts fell from 42,735 in 2014 to 28,875 in 2015, a decrease of more than 32%. The number of registered juvenile suspects was 12,904 in 2015, 4,382 fewer than a year earlier.
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