German crime rate falls 5.6% in 2025, violent crime down 2.3%

Around 5.5 million crimes were reported to the police last year, indicating a decrease of 5.6% compared to 2024, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Monday. There has been a "slight decline" in crime after years of increases, which may provide "a chance that crime will decline in the long term," Dobrindt told journalists in Berlin.

Violent crime

The area of violent crime "also shows a slight decline of 2.3%. On average, we are witnessing 580 violent crimes a day," the minister added. However, law enforcement officials recorded increases in certain offenses, including social welfare benefit fraud (up 11.5%), murder, manslaughter, and assisted suicide (up 6.5%), as well as rape, sexual coercion, and aggravated sexual assault resulting in death (up 8.5%).

Declining offenses

Police officers had to investigate fewer cases of robbery, extortion, and attacks on motorists (down 7.1%), while drug offenses decreased by 27.7%.

Youth violence

The number of children involved in violent crimes rose by 3.3% to approximately 14,200 suspects. However, this increase was less pronounced than the previous year (11.3%).

Context

The crime statistics report comes amid broader European discussions on public safety and policing. Germany has also been navigating economic and security challenges following the Middle East conflict and its impact on energy prices.