Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Crime in Denmark - statistics & facts
Since the 1990s, when Denmark officially started collecting statistics on criminal offences, fewer crimes have been reported in the Scandinavian country. Roughly 473,000 criminal offences were reported in 2022, which was around 59,000 fewer than in 2012. In fact, Denmark is ranked as the second most peaceful country in the world, only behind its Nordic neighbor Iceland. The most common crime experienced by the inhabitants of Denmark in 2022 was thefts. When measuring crimes per 100,000 inhabitant, the crime rate in Denmark was lower in 2022 than four years ago.
Considering sexual offences, the number of reported rape cases tripled in recent years, from 382 reports in 2014 to nearly 2,000 reported cases in 2022. This does not necessarily mean that the actual number of rapes increased, but is probably also down to an increased awareness around reporting. Moreover, the Danish government passed a new law based on sexual consent in September 2020, meaning that more cases now are classified as rapes.
Increasing number of violent crimes, falling number of robberies
Property crime makes up the most reported crime in Denmark, accounting for around 276,000 of all reported crime cases in 2022. This includes cases of burglaries, thefts, and robberies. However, criminal complaints concerning these types of crime decreased considerably over the past decade. For instance, the number of reported robberies more than halved from 2012 to 2022, as did the number of both burglaries and thefts. On the other hand, the number of violent crimes increased over the past 10 years.Considering sexual offences, the number of reported rape cases tripled in recent years, from 382 reports in 2014 to nearly 2,000 reported cases in 2022. This does not necessarily mean that the actual number of rapes increased, but is probably also down to an increased awareness around reporting. Moreover, the Danish government passed a new law based on sexual consent in September 2020, meaning that more cases now are classified as rapes.
Offenders and victims
The total number of people found guilty of a crime increased in 2019 and 2020 after having fallen from 2014 to 2018, before dropping slightly again in 2021. Moreover, a significant majority of the convicts were men, whereas the most common age of the people found guilty was 30 to 49 years. While there were more men than women among the perpetrators, there were annually more women than men among the victims between 2012 and 2022. In 2022, nearly 37,000 of the 68,000 crime victims in the Scandinavian country were women. However, there were more male victims of violent crimes, whereas there were more female victims of both property crimes, sexual offences, and other types of offences.
