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In particular, crimes against property and violent crime have increased significantly. After the Corona years, the numbers are now increasing again.
Crime in Switzerland increased significantly in 2022. In most cantons, more criminal offenses were committed last year than in the previous year. Above all, significantly more burglaries and burglaries as well as domestic violence were reported to the police.
The quieter Corona years are over
It is not surprising that there were fewer burglaries during the Corona years of 2020 and 2021, when most people were spending a lot of time at home. Accordingly, there were fewer crimes in public – there were fewer thefts or violence in nightlife and at events.
But in 2022, with the return of public life, these numbers rose again. A total of 35,732 burglaries and burglaries were registered across Switzerland.
This is an increase of 14.6 percent and roughly corresponds to the value before the pandemic, writes the Federal Statistical Office BFS. The number of thefts increased by 17.4 percent to 174,702.
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Burglaries have increased significantly, as has theft by sneaking in – i.e. theft from unlocked doors.
Keystone / DPA / Bodo Marks (icon image)
Serious violent crimes shake
There has also been a sharp increase in serious violent crimes, including rape, compared to the previous year. With 1,942 cases and an increase of 16.6 percent, serious violent crimes reached a high since the statistics were introduced in 2009. Reported rapes occurred 867 times, up 14.5 percent from a year earlier.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the police registered 42 completed homicides, which corresponds to the average for recent years. It is striking that more than a third of them – 15 women and one man – were killed within a current or former partnership.
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Domestic violence is increasing in Switzerland. In the vast majority of cases, women are the victims.
Keystone / Luis Berg (Symbolbild)
The number of registered cases of domestic violence also skyrocketed. In the canton of Zurich alone, the police have to intervene around 20 times a day, said Zurich security director Mario Fehr at a media conference: “It’s almost unbearable that a police patrol has to go out practically every hour of every day to fight domestic violence.”
Mixed picture
But the picture is not the same everywhere and for all crimes: While the canton of Thurgau reported a new all-time high in crimes in 2022 (12,354), the number in the canton of Zug even fell slightly – from 6,114 to 6,045 in the year compared to the previous year.
According to the Canton of Zug, this is due to a decrease in crimes against life and limb, against sexual integrity and against the Narcotics Act.
The canton of Bern is also reporting around ten percent fewer crimes in 2022 than a year earlier. Meanwhile, serious violent crimes reached a new high with an increase of almost 20 percent.
“If there is less shying away from the use of severe violence, this must shake us up as a society,” police commander Christian Brenzikofer was quoted as saying in a statement.
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Juvenile delinquency was down last year.
Keystone / Christoph Schuerpf (symbol image)
And juvenile delinquency has also fallen on a national average, by a good 3 percent. On the other hand, there is a repeated increase in digital crime. There were almost a hundred cases a day throughout Switzerland in 2022: an increase of almost 10 percent to a total of 33,345 reported cases.
The canton of Graubünden is a notable outlier in terms of online crime: the police recorded 516 cases of digital crime, almost 10 percent fewer than in the previous year.
