Burglaries soar in Switzerland

Burglaries are rising significantly in Switzerland Keystone-SDA

Burglaries are soaring in Switzerland. Thieves are particularly active during the winter months and in French-speaking Switzerland, with the cost per incident reaching record levels, according to an analysis by the Swiss insurance company AXA.

Since 2020, AXA has recorded a steady rise in the number of burglaries per insured household, the insurance company announced on Thursday. In 2025, the company recorded 4% more burglaries than in the previous year and 15% more than in 2022.

The switch to winter time and the resulting earlier onset of darkness contributed to the rise in burglaries. From October to March last year, for example, AXA recorded 45% more offences than during the summer months. December proved to be the month with the highest number of burglaries, followed by November.

On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the insurance company recorded more than twice as many burglaries as on ordinary days. Burglaries were least frequent between April and June.

The risk of burglary also varied greatly depending on where people lived: between 2019 and 2025, the likelihood of falling victim to a burglary in the canton of Geneva was more than twice as high as the Swiss average. During this period, there were 8.4 burglaries per year per 1,000 households in Geneva. The cantons of Vaud, Basel-City, Basel-Country as well as Jura, Solothurn and Neuchâtel were also affected more frequently than average.

In central and south-eastern Switzerland, however, the risk was significantly lower. In Uri and Graubünden, AXA recorded just one burglary per year per 1,000 households since 2019, while in Glarus the figure was 1.2 burglaries. The Swiss average stood at 3.3 burglaries.

Claims costs at record levels

Average claim costs also rose. Last year, AXA paid out over CHF22 million for burglaries, representing a 9% increase on the previous year and a 60% rise compared with three years earlier. The average claim per incident reached a record high of over CHF7,000 ($8,534) in 2025, making it 30% more expensive than three years earlier.

AXA attributes this trend to several factors. For instance, many people now own increasingly expensive valuables such as smartphones, laptops or e-bikes. Furthermore, these same goods are more expensive than before due to higher prices. Another reason is the significant increase in major claims, i.e. cases costing over CHF30,000. Since 2023, AXA has recorded around twice as many such cases per year as in previous years. Experts at AXA suspect that such complex offences point to organised structures and that professionally executed burglaries and organised crime have increased significantly.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.