In the last ten years, crime that has come to the attention of the authorities has mainly decreased. In 2020, however, crimes clearly increased from the previous year.
In 2020, about 686,000 crimes and violations came to the attention of the authorities, of which 543,429 were criminal code violations and 129,549 traffic-related violations. The number of violations decreased by 63 percent, mainly because some traffic violations result in administrative sanctions instead of fines.
The number of criminal offenses increased by 19 percent compared to the previous year. Property crimes make up a little less than half of the total number of crimes, and traffic crimes about a quarter.
The development of different types of crime depends not only on the actual increase or decrease of crime, but also on how actively victims of crimes report them to the police. The number of detected crimes is also affected by the effectiveness of the authorities’ supervision and how the supervision is directed.
Property crimes and traffic crimes increased
In 2020, theft crimes rate increased by almost 10 percent from the previous year (around 139,000 crimes). This is an exception in the long-standing downward trend in theft crimes, but the number has clearly decreased compared to the level of the early 1990s.
Bicycle theft is the most common type of theft targeting households and individuals. The number of bicycle thefts has increased during 2019 and 2020.
Theft crimes are more common in urban environments. In Uusimaa, the incidence of theft crimes is many times higher than in the rest of Finland. On a European scale, Finland belongs to countries with low property crime.
About a quarter of the crimes reported to the police are traffic crimes. In 2020, 132,000 traffic offenses were recorded, of which approximately 15 percent were drunk driving.
The number of drunk drivers between 2011 and 2020 has remained at the same level. However, the proportion of serious drunk driving offenses recorded by the authorities has decreased from 53 percent to 34 percent over a period of ten years. The number of drug cases and the proportion of drunk driving has clearly increased over the past ten years.
There is a solid connection between alcohol and drugs
In 2020, 95 violent crimes resulting in death were committed in our country. The number of violent crimes leading to death increased by 14 percent from the previous year’s level, but it is clearly below the average level of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Crime is dominated by mutual violence between marginalized and alcoholic men. Crimes are closely related to alcohol use situations.
The level of homicide in Finland relative to the number of inhabitants is lower than in Russia and the Baltic countries, but higher than in our western neighboring countries. The difference to other Nordic countries mainly consists of alcohol-related crimes by marginalized and alcoholic men. The crime level of the working population in Finland is not much different from other Nordic countries.
Most of the crimes are property and traffic crimes
In the last ten years, crime that has come to the attention of the authorities has mainly decreased. In 2020, however, crimes clearly increased from the previous year.
In 2020, about 686,000 crimes and violations came to the attention of the authorities, of which 543,429 were criminal code violations and 129,549 traffic-related violations. The number of violations decreased by 63 percent, mainly because some traffic violations result in administrative sanctions instead of fines.
The number of criminal offenses increased by 19 percent compared to the previous year. Property crimes make up a little less than half of the total number of crimes, and traffic crimes about a quarter.
The development of different types of crime depends not only on the actual increase or decrease of crime, but also on how actively victims of crimes report them to the police. The number of detected crimes is also affected by the effectiveness of the authorities’ supervision and how the supervision is directed.
Property crimes and traffic crimes increased
In 2020, theft crimes rate increased by almost 10 percent from the previous year (around 139,000 crimes). This is an exception in the long-standing downward trend in theft crimes, but the number has clearly decreased compared to the level of the early 1990s.
Bicycle theft is the most common type of theft targeting households and individuals. The number of bicycle thefts has increased during 2019 and 2020.
Theft crimes are more common in urban environments. In Uusimaa, the incidence of theft crimes is many times higher than in the rest of Finland. On a European scale, Finland belongs to countries with low property crime.
About a quarter of the crimes reported to the police are traffic crimes. In 2020, 132,000 traffic offenses were recorded, of which approximately 15 percent were drunk driving.
The number of drunk drivers between 2011 and 2020 has remained at the same level. However, the proportion of serious drunk driving offenses recorded by the authorities has decreased from 53 percent to 34 percent over a period of ten years. The number of drug cases and the proportion of drunk driving has clearly increased over the past ten years.
There is a solid connection between alcohol and drugs
In 2020, 95 violent crimes resulting in death were committed in our country. The number of violent crimes leading to death increased by 14 percent from the previous year’s level, but it is clearly below the average level of the 1990s and early 2000s.
Crime is dominated by mutual violence between marginalized and alcoholic men. Crimes are closely related to alcohol use situations.
The level of homicide in Finland relative to the number of inhabitants is lower than in Russia and the Baltic countries, but higher than in our western neighboring countries. The difference to other Nordic countries mainly consists of alcohol-related crimes by marginalized and alcoholic men. The crime level of the working population in Finland is not much different from other Nordic countries.
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