Crime in Germany has increases by 11.5% Y-O-Y

The number of criminal offenses in Germany increased by 11.5% last year compared to the year before, according to a report in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper citing the Police Crime Statistics.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is due to present the report by the police on Thursday.

Some 5.6 million crimes were committed nationwide, the newspaper reported. The number of cases was 3.5% higher than in 2019, the year before the pandemic broke out.

The number of suspects also increased compared to 2021, by 10.7% to about 2.1 million.

The data showed an increase in the number of minors suspected of crimes, reaching a striking 93,095, up 35.5%. The rise compares to 72,890 in 2019, with one cause that schoolchildren distribute child pornographic video and image files to chat groups, the newspaper reported.

North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul reportedly called for the next conference of interior ministers to address child and youth violence.

He blamed poor levels of social awareness combined with the internet, slamming "questionable sites and videos or games that glorify violence."