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Exposure to crime in Sweden

Illustration of people, taken from the cover of The Swedish Crime Survey 2013

Illustration: Helena Halvarsson


Nearly 13,000 people responded to the Swedish Crime Survey in 2013. They answered questions about exposure to crime, insecurity, confidence in the criminal justice system and victims’ contact with the criminal justice system.

Here are the overall results for the area exposure to crime. For more, download the entire summary of the Swedish Crime Survey 2013 Pdf, 212 kB..

For more information about the Swedish Crime Survey 2013 please
contact Thomas Hvitfeldt or Åsa Irlander, statisticians/researchers at Brå.

Section of the Swedish population that has been subject of different types of offences against the person 2005–2012.

Section of the Swedish population that has been subject of different types of offences against the person 2005–2012. Click to enlarge.

Crimes against individuals

  • Of the respondents to the 2013 crime survey, 11.4 per cent state that
    in 2012 they were the victim of one or more of the crimes referred to
    in the report as offences against the person, i.e. assault, threat, sexual
    offences, mugging, fraud or harassment. The level of exposure to of
    these crimes has decreased somewhat since 2005 (when the percentage
    was 13.1)
  • The most common crimes are threat and harassment, and the least
    common are sexual offences, serious assault and mugging.
    • Around three out of ten (29 %) offences against the person reported
    in SCS 2013 are stated as having been reported to the police. Mugging
    has the highest reporting rate (48 %) and sexual offences the
    lowest (10 %). The proportion of reported incidents has increased
    somewhat since 2005, when 24 per cent of were stated as having
    been reported the police.
  • The majority of those who had been the victims of offences against
    the person stated that they had been the victim once in 2012; however,
    12 per cent (corresponding to 1.4 % of the population) stated
    that they had been the victim four times or more. This group has
    been exposed to more than half (54 %) of all incidents of offences
    against the person.
  • 1.7 per cent of the respondents of working age (20–64 years old)
    state that, in 2012, they were exposed to assault, threat, mugging
    or sexual offences due to their work.
Number of Swedish households that have been subject to different types of property offences 2006–2012.

Number of Swedish households that have been subject to different types of property offences 2006–2012. Click to enlarge.

Domestic property offences

  • The survey indicates that 9.2 per cent of households fell victim to car
    theft, theft from a vehicle, bicycle theft or residential burglary (also
    known as domestic property offences) in 2012. The rate of exposure
    to these crimes has decreased somewhat since 2006 (when the
    percentage was 12.6). The most common property offence is bicycle
    theft. The least common are residential burglary and car theft.
  • Around half (51 %) of the domestic property offences reported in the
    SCS 2013 are stated as having been reported to the police. Burglary
    has the highest reporting rate (86 %) and bicycle theft the lowest
    (42 %). The number of reported incidents has been relatively stable
    since 2006.
  • The overwhelming majority of those respondents who were the victims
    of domestic property offences state that this happened only once
    in 2012. Only 1 per cent of those households that were the victims of
    crime stated that they had fallen victim four times or more.