Burglaries in Switzerland rise for first time in ten years
The number of burglaries in Switzerland rose by 14% in 2022 – the first increase in ten years, national crime figures show.
The Federal Statistical Office saidExternal link on Monday that Swiss police had recorded 35,732 burglaries in 2022, a 14.6% rise compared to the previous year. This figure is again close to the pre-pandemic level (36,419 incidents in 2019).
Reported cases of serious violence, such as serious assault and rape, also rose by over 16% compared to 2021.
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The police recorded 867 rape offences (+14.5%) and 762 incidents involving serious bodily harm (+17.2%). There were also 42 homicides, a figure that has remained stable over recent years.
As well as burglaries, thefts were also up last year. A total of 174,702 incidents were reported (+17.4%). There were notable increases in pickpocketing (+20.6%) and thefts from vehicles (+17.4 %). A total of 46,385 vehicles were also reported stolen in 2022 (+15.9%) and 14,153 electric bikes went missing (+58.7%).
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There was also a rise in cyber-crime. In 2022, 33,345 offences were reported (+9.9%), mainly cases of phishing (+84.8%), sextortion (+54%) and online investment fraud (+29.2%).
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