Crime rate in in Germany 2000-2020

The crime rate in Germany for 2020 was 6,386 crimes per 100 thousand people, making it the fifth year in a row that the crime rate has fallen in the country. 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.

Overall crime falls

The overall number of crime offences recorded by the police in Germany in 2020 was approximately 5.31 million, compared with 5.44 in 2019. During the time period between 2000 and 2020, the year with the most recorded crime offences was 2004 when there were over 6.63 million crimes in the country. Despite the recent reductions in overall crime, there was a sharp increase in the number of murders committed in Germany, with the 901 murders recorded in 2018 the highest since the year 2000, when there were 930.

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 4,291 crimes per 100 thousand 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 4,721.