The police registered far fewer cases of traditional crime in 2020 than in 2019. Pickpocketing and house burglary in particular were less common last year, according to figures published by Statistics Netherlands on Monday (Statistics Netherlands).CBS). In contrast, online crime, including sales fraud and hacking, was on the rise.
The number of registered cases of pickpocketing decreased by 47 percent from a year earlier. Home burglaries involved a decrease of 23 percent. In absolute numbers, this means that a total of 7,000 cases of pickpocketing and just over 30,000 burglaries were registered last year. Fewer burglaries were found, especially in Amsterdam.
Statistics Netherlands states that it is plausible that the decreases are related to the corona measures. For example, because of the store closures, fewer people were on the street, while working from home reduced the risk of burglaries.
The number of cases of shoplifting was also smaller in 2020, although the decline of 13 percent was less marked than for other forms of traditional crime.
At the same time, online crime grew by 54 percent last year. Thanks to the decline in traditional crime and despite the increase in online crime, total registered crime decreased by 2 percent in 2020.
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