The number of crimes committed in Switzerland rose once again in 2024, new data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has revealed. The number of serious violent crimes has now increased by 15 percent in a decade, with Swiss cities being the worst affected.
In 2024, a total of 563.633 crimes were reported to the police in Switzerland, an increase of 8 percent compared to 2023. Last year, 91.929 people were accused of a crime, with over a quarter of suspects being younger than 25 years old.
Rates of discrimination have risen the most, increasing by 48,4 percent since last year. Crime is also on the rise on the internet, with rates of cybercrime increasing by 34,7 percent compared to 2023 - the vast majority of offences concerned financial scams.
The number of crimes relating to housing - theft, property damage, housing fraud - rose by 8 percent, while the number of convictions related to drugs and narcotics dropped by 11,5 percent. Nevertheless, officers still seized 3.494 kilograms of marijuana, 751 kilos of cocaine, 81,54 kilos of heroin, 33.999 tablets of ecstasy and 5.534 tablets of LSD last year.
Switzerland has also reported a rise in the number of violent crimes. In 2024, 49.000 violent crimes were reported, a 3,3 percent increase compared to 2023 and a 15 percent increase compared to 2014. Rates of serious violent crime (2.456) have risen to levels unseen since 2009.
When it comes to crime in general, the town of Solothurn has the highest rates at 269,7 crimes committed per 1.000 residents. Basel followed with 151,6 crimes per 1.000 people, with Lausanne (120,1), Zurich and Lucerne (111,3) rounding out the top five.
By contrast, the area with the lowest rate of crime in Switzerland was the former Republic of Gersau, Canton Schwyz, at just 16,6 crimes per 1.000 people in 2024. The emergency services reported similarly low rates in areas of the mountains and rural regions in the Mittelland.
When it comes to violent crime, Lausanne took an unfortunate first place with 12,9 cases per 1.000 inhabitants. The other main hotspots were Basel (12,7), Zurich (10,7), Solothurn (9,5), Schaffhausen (9,5), West Lausanne (9,5) and the Broye-Vully region (9,5). Regionally, the most violent crimes were committed in western Switzerland, Zurich and the urban region around and to the north of the city.
By contrast, only two regions of Switzerland reported no violent crimes in 2024. These were Gersau and Goms, Canton Valais.
Despite the higher rates of crime, the Conference of Cantonal Police Commanders wrote in a statement that "generally speaking, we can consider the country to be safe." They argued that “several factors [can] partly explain this statistical increase”, one of which is the fact that more people are feeling confident enough to come forward and report crime.
They added that “political attention given to this issue…as well as the prevention and support measures that are being developed on the ground" could all play a part in rising crime rates. However, commanders also suggested that “social, economic and cultural” factors could be to blame, but refused to clarify what these were.
For more information, check out the official FSO data.
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