Crime is on the rise, especially due to petty street crime. But Sardinian cities are among the safest in Italy .
This is what emerges from the statistics of the inter-force database of the Department of Public Security of the Ministry of the Interior , provided exclusively to Il Sole 24 Ore on Monday and compared with those of previous years.
The number of crimes reported in 2024 was 2.38 million, 1.7% more than in 2023, a 3.4% increase over 2019 and also above 2018 levels. The data consolidate the ongoing post-pandemic trend, with values that remain distant from those of ten years ago (-15% compared to 2014).
In 2024, over one million thefts were reported, accounting for 44% of all crime reports, a 3% increase year-over-year . Specifically, the highest increases in the year under review were reported burglaries (+4.9%), car thefts (+2.3%), snatching thefts (+1.7%), and finally, thefts involving dexterity (+0.6%). The highest increases in the past year were reported street crimes in general, including robberies (+1.8%), drug-related crimes (+3.9%), and sexual assaults (+7.5%). Intentional injuries increased by 5.8% and property damage by 1.6%. Reports of smuggling (-38%), fires (-5.3%) and computer fraud (-6.5%) buck the trend, reversing the trend dictated by the spread of digital technologies.
The Ministry of the Interior's data provides an updated snapshot of the number of minors and foreigners among the total number of those reported/arrested. Both categories are growing : 38,247 minors were reported, a 16% increase over 2023 and approximately 30% compared to pre-Covid levels. Specifically, one in four arrested for public robbery is under the age of 18. Foreigners were reported or arrested in 2024, an 8.1% increase over 2019. Overall, foreigners accounted for more than a third of those reported, but the incidence was almost double (over 60%) for certain predatory crimes such as snatching, theft, and public robberies.
THE RANKING
, which measures crime reports recorded by law enforcement per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024. They are followed by Bologna, Rimini, and Turin, where the daily flow of hundreds of city users and tourists through the area fuels the stock of reports. In short, seven of the 14 metropolitan cities (including Venice and Genoa) rank among the top ten areas with the highest number of reported crimes per 100,000 inhabitants.
