Crime trends in Finland 2024

Author

Janne Kivivuori , Ilari Kolttola, Aaro Beuker, Matti Näsi, Tiina Malin, Anna Raeste, Karoliina Suonpää, Maiju Tanskanen and Miisa Törölä

Published

April 25, 2025

Crime trends in Finland

The PDF version is available via the Crime Trends in Finland 2024 link.

In Finland, the homicide rate decreased from the early 1990s until recently; the drop levelled out in 2020-22, with 2023 showing a low rate.
While the role of alcohol has decreased, homicide remains dominated by marginalised male alcoholics and drinking group conflicts. Among young victims (15- to 29-year-olds), homicide is linked to drugs and contacts with criminal activity.
Assault offences remained stable in 2014-2023, a trend corroborated by victim surveys.
Recorded rape offences and sexual offences against children have increased over the decade. It should be noted that the legislation has been reformed several times, most recently at the beginning of 2023, and this has broadened the definitions of these crimes. However, recent surveys have also observed rising numbers of victim experiences.
Personal and household theft victimisation decreased, while theft offences reported to the police remained stable. The divergence can reflect theft against businesses being more stable than personal victimisation.
Fraud and identity theft have increased; this trend is corroborated by both administrative statistics and the national crime victim survey.
The role of alcohol in violent offending has decreased. This has been observed in administrative statistics and in youth surveys.
In the age groups 15–17 and 18–20, violence, theft and property destruction decreased in the early part of the decade, levelling out after that.
In Finland, youths under 15 years of age are not criminally culpable. However, their offences are recorded in administrative crime statistics. In this age category, the recorded assault offence rate doubled from 2014 to 2023. Patterns such as use of sharp instruments and offenders taking videos of the crime have increased.
International comparisons of violence in European and Nordic adult populations suggest that Finland has above-average problems related to lethal and other violence, against both men and women.
This report concludes by summarising recent findings on the efficacy of crime prevention methods as applied in Finland.

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