Statistics from the judicial system

Murder, manslaughter, and assault with a lethal outcome are usually jointly designated lethal violence. In 2023, 121 cases of lethal violence were confirmed in Sweden. The average of lethal violence for the last ten years (2014-2023) is 111 cases per year.

Lethal violence

In 2023, 121 cases of lethal violence were confirmed in Sweden. This can be seen from the statistic regarding confirmed cases of lethal violence. This is an increase by 5 cases, as compared with 2022.

Since 2002, when Brå started producing the statistics, the level of confirmed cases of lethal violence has fluctuated between 68 and 124 cases. Up until 2012, the development of the number of cases was marked by an overall downward trend with relatively large variations from year to year. From 2013 onwards, the number of cases has been at a higher level than in previous years, which has broken the downward trend.

Sex

In 2023, the victim was a female in 33 cases (27 per cent) and a male in 88 cases (73 per cent). Compared to 2022, the number of female victims increased with 10 cases in 2023, while the number of male victims decreased by 5 cases.

In relation to the population, the number of confirmed cases of lethal violence was 1.15 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, a slightly higher level than in 2022 (1.11). The number of female victims per 100,000 female inhabitants was higher in 2023 (0.63) compared with 2022 (0.44), while the number of male victims per 100,000 male inhabitants was lower in 2023 (1.66) compared with 2022 (1.76).

Against someone in close relationship (partner or ex-partner)

In 10 cases of the confirmed cases of lethal violence in 2023, victims and perpetrators were related by a close relationship (partner or ex-partner), which accounted for 8 per cent of all cases of lethal violence. In 2022, the corresponding number was also 10 cases (9 per cent).

The number of cases of lethal violence against women in a close relationship in 2023 amounted to 10 cases, which equals to 30 per cent of all cases of lethal violence with female victims during the year. The corresponding number for male victims in a close relationship in 2023 was zero cases.

Use of firearms

In 2023, firearms were used in 53 of the observed cases of lethal violence, 10 less than in 2022, which corresponded to 45 percent of all observed cases of lethal violence in 2023. Meanwhile, the number of cases of lethal violence without using firearms increased with 15 cases, from 53 cases in 2022 to 68 cases in 2023.

In the cases where a firearm was used 2023, the victim was a male in 87 per cent of the cases (46 cases), and in 7 cases the victim was a female (13 per cent). The sex ratio for male victims in the cases where a firearm was used has been pending between 85 to 98 per cent, with an average of 93 per cent during the period 2014-2023.

Regional breakdown

The majority (72 cases, corresponded to 60 per cent) of the confirmed cases of lethal violence in 2023 were reported in one of the major metropolitan police regions of Stockholm, Väst and Syd. This level has fluctuated between 60 and 75 per cent during the years 2014-2023.

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All hate crimes

Several reports included more than one hate crime motive, resulting in a total of 2,834 identified hate crime motives. Of these, at an overall level, xenophobic and racist hate crimes were most common (53 percent), followed by hate crimes against religious groups (16 percent) and LGBTQI-related hate crimes (12 percent). Moreover, 19 percent of all hate crime motives were judged to be unspecified. In these reports, it seems that a hate crime has been committed, but it is not possible to deduce the specific motive behind the reported offence.

Molestation was the most common crime category among all hate crime motives, accounting for 24 percent of all offences with hate crime motives. Agitation against an ethnic or national group and property damage (often in the form of graffiti) were essentially on a par at 19 percent each, followed by defamation (14 percent) and unlawful threats (12 percent).

The most common crime scene in the reports was a public place (20 percent) and in or near the victim's home (17 percent). The school environment was also a relatively common crime scene, with about 15 percent of reported hate crimes occurring there. Digital environments were similarly common as a crime scene, at around 14 percent.

The statistics also report the modus operandi used in the hate crime. Verbal or other non-physical abuse was the most common modus operandi among all hate crimes (33 percent). Almost equally common was for the hate crime to involve some sort of property damage or the spreading of messages with a hate crime motive (32 percent), while physical abuse or attacks were seen in about 16 percent of the reports. Hate crimes via digital channels, such as public posts and chats, accounted for 7 percent of the reports.

The victim was a man in 37 percent of the reports and a woman in 26 percent. In 31 percent of the reports, no crime was committed against a natural person. These police reports largely concerned offences such as property damage and agitation against an ethnic or national group.

The perpetrator was a man in 46 percent of the police reports and a woman in 14 percent. However, in 36 percent of the police reports, the perpetrator's gender was unknown, which is common in different types of property damage where there are no witnesses to the incident, such as in the case of graffiti.

About one tenth (12 percent) of all police reports concerned hate crimes against a person who was working at the time of the incident.
Most common was for the perpetrator to be unknown to the victim or for the victim to know the person by name or sight only (27 percent and 9 percent, respectively). In one tenth (10 percent) of the reports, the perpetrator was a neighbour of the victim.

Xenophobic and racist hate crimes

Among the hate crime motives identified in 2022, 17 percent were Afrophobic, 1 percent antiziganistic, 1 percent hate crimes against the Sami and 35 percent were categorised as other xenophobic and racist motives. The latter category included both general and unspecified xenophobic and racist hate crime motives, as well as hate crimes aimed at specific ethnicities and nationalities that were too few in number to be reported separately.

Just as in 2020, the xenophobic and racist hate crimes had a varied crime structure. Molestation and defamation were the most common offences, although threats and violence were also relatively common. These hate crimes were most often committed in or near the victim's home or in public places, as well as in schools, on public transport and in digital environments. The victim was most often a man, most commonly subjected to some form of verbal or other non-physical abuse (such as being followed by someone). The perpetrator was often a man, in many cases unknown to the victim. However, it was almost as common for the perpetrator to be known to the victim in some way, such as a neighbour.

Among Afrophobic hate crimes, defamation was the most common offence, differing from all other hate crime motives for which molestation was more common. The crime scene was often a public place or in the school environment. It was also common to be victimised in digital environments or in the vicinity of one's home. Being victimised at school was more common in Afrophobic hate crimes than in most other motives.

Hate crimes against religious groups

Among hate crimes against religious groups, Islamophobic hate crimes were the most common (8 percent of all hate crime motives), followed by anti-Semitic (4 percent), other hate crimes against religious groups (3 percent) and Christophobic hate crimes (1 percent). The anti-Semitic hate crimes largely comprised of agitation against an ethnic or national group, which is not usually aimed at a specific individual, and was most commonly seen in digital environments as well as in public places and schools. The Islamophobic hate crimes differed from the anti-Semitic hate crimes in that they more often involved molestation, usually committed in a public place or in or near the victim's home. It was also the Islamophobic hate crimes that had the highest proportion of women among the victims, compared to all other hate crime motives.

LGBTQI-related hate crimes

The LGBTQI-related hate crimes included homophobic hate crimes (6 percent of all hate crimes), transphobic hate crimes (3 percent) and other LGBTQI-related hate crimes (3 percent). Among the LGBTQI-related hate crimes, the most common offence was molestation, although threats and violence were also seen to a slightly greater extent than among the other motive groups. Victimisation in digital environments was also relatively common, in chats, public posts and even direct messages. A large proportion of the victims were men and the perpetrator was most often unknown to the victim.

Among the transphobic hate crimes, the vast majority of the offences were committed in digital environments, which explains why the most common modus operandi was to write something offensive in a chat, instant message or public post. Unlike the other motives, there were also relatively few transphobic hate crime police reports that did not involve a natural person as the victim. In other words, a large proportion of the reported transphobic hate crimes were aimed at specific individuals.

The other LGBTQI-related hate crimes were largely comprised of various forms of property damage (often graffiti) affecting LGBTQI-related events and organisations, as well as damage to Pride flags.

Regional distribution

Of the police reports classified as hate crimes in 2022, the greatest number was registered in Police Region Stockholm (26 percent), followed by Police Region South (24 percent) and Police Region West (16 percent). However, when population size is taken into account, Police Region South had the most reports (32 per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by Police Region Stockholm (28 per 100,000 inhabitants). This was followed by Police Regions North, East and Central, all of which registered about 23 reports per 100,000 inhabitants. Xenophobic and racist hate crimes comprised the most common motive across all police regions. The largest proportion of reported offences with an identified hate crime motive took place in or near major cities and urban centres.

Publications

• Hate crimes reported to the police in 2022
• Hate crime in digital environments
• Processed hate crimes
• Self-reported exposure to hate crime

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• Hate crime – all motivesExcel, 44 kB. Excel, 44.5 kB.
• Xenophobic and racist hate crimesExcel, 20 kB. Excel, 19.7 kB.
• Afrophobic hate crimesExcel, 19 kB. Excel, 19 kB.
• Anti-Semitic hate crimesExcel, 21 kB. Excel, 21.3 kB.
• Islamophobic hate crimesExcel, 19 kB. Excel, 19.3 kB.
• LGBTQI-oriented hate crimesExcel, 20 kB. Excel, 19.7 kB.
• Transphobic hate crimes Excel, 10 kB.

1,517,058 offences were processed in Sweden in 2023, which represents an increase of 4% (+59 549 processed offences) by comparison with the figure for 2022. Of the investigated offences 28% were person-based cleared during 2023, which is the same rate compared with the result of 2022.

Processed offences 2023 Pdf, 273.1 kB.

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The statistics of persons suspected of offences is based on the persons registered by Swedish Police, Swedish Custom and Swedish Prosecution Authority as suspected of offences. The statistics gives an overview of the number of people suspected of offences in Sweden, type of crime and how the persons are distributed by sex and age. The statistics do not include persons who have not reached the age of criminal responsibility (15 years).

Summary of the results 2023

In 2023, 194,503 persons were suspected of offences, which was 3 per cent higher than in 2022. In comparison with 2014, the total number of suspects has increased by 11 per cent in 2023.

Of the persons suspected of offences in 2023, 45,130 were women and 148,828 men, which gave a sex distribution of 23 per cent women and 77 per cent men (same sex distribution as in 2022). Compared with 2022, the number of women suspected of offences in 2023 increased by 5 per cent and the number of suspected men by 2 per cent. In comparison with 2014, the number of suspected women has increased by 23 per cent 2023, while the number of suspected men has increased by 8 per cent.

In 2023, 42 per cent of the persons suspected of offences were under the age of 30 at the time of the crime. Young people (15–20 years) accounted for 19 per cent of all suspects. An equal proportion (19%) were aged 50 or older. The largest proportion of suspects was found in the age range 30–49 years (39%). The age distribution was similar for suspect women and suspect men in 2023.

Of the persons suspected of offences in 2023, 34 per cent were suspected of crimes against persons, 29 per cent of drug offenses, 18 per cent of traffic offenses and 15 per cent of theft offenses. Smaller proportions, of 9 and 5 percent, respectively, were suspected of fraud and criminal damage. Compared with 2022, the number of suspects increased for crimes against persons, theft offenses and drug offenses in 2023. The number of suspects decreased for fraud, criminal damage and traffic offenses compared with 2022.

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The statistics of processed offences linked to a suspect are based on offences and suspects registered and processed by Swedish Police, Swedish Customs and Swedish Prosecution Authority. A processed offence refers to an offence were a decision has been made which entails that the processing of the offence was completed. Offences with person-based clearances are processed offences where a conviction decision (a decision to indict, issue a summary sanction order, or waive prosecution) has been made.

The statistics give an overview of the number of processed offences linked to a suspect and are presented by type of offence, type of decision and sex and age of the suspected person. The statistics do not include processed offences linked to suspects under the age of criminal responsibility (15 years).

The statistics of processed offences linked to a suspect are new from 2016, but it is available annually from 2007.

Summary of the results 2023

During 2023, 544,239 offences linked to a suspect were processed, which is an increase of 4,977 (+1 %) in comparison with 2022. Since 2014, the number of processed offences linked to a suspect has increased by approximately 3 per cent. The most common crime category among the processed offences linked to a suspect in 2023, was Crimes against person, which constituted 26 per cent of the total. Other common offences were Crimes against the Narcotics Drugs Act (20 %), Theft and Robbery (10 %) and Crimes against the Road Traffic Offences Act (9 %).

The number of processed offences linked to a suspect that resulted in a person-based clearance (a decision to indict, issue a summary sanction order, or waive prosecution) in 2023 was 195,202 (36 %), which constitutes an increase of 2,374 (+1 %) compared to 2022. Since 2014, the number has decreased by 17 per cent. The proportion of person-based clearances is unaltered since 2022, and has decreased by 9 percentage point compared to 2014. The rest of the offences linked to a suspect have been subject either to an investigation limitation decision (14 %) or other types of decisions (50 %). The proportion of the offences linked to a suspect which was subject to investigation limitation decisions has increased since 2014, with 6 percentage point.

The majority (433,000 or 80 per cent) of the processed offences in 2023 were linked to a male suspect; this is a pattern which has been stable for the past ten years. Of the processed offences linked to a male suspect, 36 per cent has been processed with a person-based clearance; this proportion is unaltered since 2022. Of the processed offences linked to a female suspect, 35 per cent were processed with person-based clearances, which has increased by 1 percentage point since 2022.

Of the processed offences, 90,498 were linked to a suspect aged 15 to 20 years, which constitutes 17 per cent of all the processed offences linked to a suspect. The rest of the offences (452,561 or 83 per cent) were linked to persons aged 21 and over. About two out of five (38 %) of the offences linked to persons aged 15 to 20 years, were processed with person-based clearance in 2023. The corresponding proportion of person-based clearances for offenses linked to persons aged 21 and over was 35 per cent. The proportions have decreased over time, with 8 respective 9 percentage points compared to 2014.

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Statistics relating to persons convicted for criminal offences present those found guilty either by court (county court convictions) or by prosecutors (through prosecutor fines or waivers of prosecution).

In 2023, there were 113,737 so-called conviction decisions laid down by the courts or the prosecutors. This is a 3 percent increase compared to 2022.

Since 1975, the number of convictions has decreased by 64 percent. The greatest reduction came at the end of the 1970s in connection with the decriminalization of public drunkenness. Since then the trend has been more stable, but there has nonetheless been a continuous reduction in number of convictions. In part the reduction can be explained by the fact that over time the police have received extended authority to issue summary fines for a larger number of petty offences. These are presented separately in the conviction statistics. Part of the decrease, particularly between the years 1994—1996, can also be explained if viewed in relation to the fact that the number of cleared offences also fell during this period of time.

Crimes against the Narcotics Drugs Act constitute the most common offence type for which someone is convicted in 2023 and were the principal offence in 28 percent of all convictions. The second most common offence type is road traffic offences, which was the principal offence in 27 percent of the convictions in 2023.

Fines most common sanction

Fines issued either by the courts or the prosecutor is the most common form of sanction. In 2023, 58 percent of all convictions carried fines as the principal sanction. In addition, 310,717 summary fines were issued directly by the police.

In 2023, about 12 percent (14,096) of all convictions carried a prison sentence. The most common sentence length was of a maximum of two months (39 percent of all convictions carrying a prison sentence). About 2,492 sentences or 18 percent of the prison sentence carried a prison term of over two years, 41 of which carried a life sentence. In 2023, 119 youths were sentenced to youth custody, a sanction that since 1999 has largely replaced the use of prison for youths up to eighteen years of age.

A legislative change introduced 1 January 2007 led to the sanctions youth care and youth service, previously included under care of the social services, now having become separate sanctions. There were 3,255 youth care and youth service sentences in 2023. In 2022 another legislative change was introduced leading to the sanction youth surveillance. During 2023 there were 155 youth surveillance sentences.
Men and women accounted for 82 and 18 percent respectively of those found guilty of offences in 2023. Youths aged between fifteen and twenty made up approximately 18 percent of all convicted in 2023. In relation to the proportion of the population, youths are over-represented among those found guilty of offences compared to members of other age groups.

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Over the course of the year 2023 a total of 10,647 individuals were admitted to prison, which is an increase of 3 percent in comparison with 2022.

The number of inmates in prison service institutions (on 1 October) was 6,985 in 2023, which constitutes an increase of 14 percent in comparison with 2022. The level is now 62 percent higher than it was in 2014.

Of those admitted to prisons during the year 2023, 16 percent had been sentenced for theft offences. Around 12 percent had been sentenced for crimes against life and health, around 32 percent had been sentenced for drug offences and around 8 percent had been sentenced for road traffic offences. Assault offences dominated among the crimes against life and health and drinking under the influence dominated among the traffic offences.

The majority of those admitted to prisons are men. In 2023, men accounted for approximately 92 percent of the total number of prison inmates. The proportion of inmates comprised of women has been relatively stable over the last ten years.

Around 13 percent of those admitted to prison in 2023 were aged 50 or older. 47 percent were aged between 30 and 49, 35 percent were aged between 21 and 29. Youths aged between 15 and 20 accounted for 5 percent of admissions in 2023. Looking instead at those admitted to prison per 100,000 of population in the respective age groups, the distribution is different. On this basis, the dominant age group comprises persons aged 21 to 29 years, with 309 prison admissions per 100,000 of population, as compared with 91 admissions per 100,000 of population among those aged 15 to 20 years.

There were approximately 3,061 individuals placed in remand centres on average per day 2023. Of these, 86 percent were under detention awaiting trial or during ongoing criminal investigations and 3 percent were under arrest or otherwise in police custody. The number of persons serving a prison sentence in remand centres was 323 persons on average per day 2023.

Approximately 1,820 individuals served their prison sentence by means of intensive electronic supervision in 2023, which constitutes an increase of 13 percent in comparison with 2022.

In 2023 a total of 11,472 persons entered the supervision of the probation service. This represents an increase of 9 percent by comparison with the figure for 2022.

A total of 6,438 persons were conditionally discharged during 2023.

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Forty-one percent of all persons with an initial event¹ in 2017 relapsed into crime within three years. The percentage that relapsed among women was 30 percent and 44 percent among men. The statistics show minor changes over time.

Eighteen percent of all persons with an initial event where women and 82 percent men.

The risk of relapsing into crime clearly increases with the number of previous adjudications². Ninety-one percent among those with nine or more previous adjudications relapsed into crime within three years. Among those without any previous adjudication 23 percent relapsed into crime within three years.

The median number of days to the first relapse into crime was eight months and two weeks (260 days) 2017. The median number of days for women was 290 and 256 for men.

It is common that a liberty depriving sanction in the initial event is followed by a liberty depriving sanction in the relapse event. Almost 50 percent had been deprived of liberty some time prior to the relapse event when previous adjudications 5 years before the initial event are included.

About the statistics

The recidivism statistics aim to give an overview of the level, structure and development of relapses into crime. The statistics also present measures such as time to first relapse.

The statistics is divided into to two products, one final and one preliminary recidivism statistics. The difference is the follow up time and the time for collection of conviction decisions that include relapses into crime. These time periods are three years each in the final statistics and one year each in the preliminary statistics. This gives the possibility to present more reliable final statistics compared to the preliminary statistics.

¹) An initial event is a release from prison, discharge from closed institutional youth care, discharge from forensic psychiatric care, completed intensive supervision with electronic monitoring or court sentencing with legal force or conviction decisions with other sanctions.

²) Previous adjudications mean court sentencing with legal force or conviction decisions 5 years before the initial event.

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