Germany immigrant crime statistics by country of birth
Rape, sexual offence, violent crime and homicide rates for Germany by migrant background, from Bundeskriminalamt (PKS police crime statistics). Every figure shows how many times as likely a group is to be recorded, with the native German comparison group named in each table as the 1× per-capita baseline.
- Rape & sexual offencesNon-German citizens 3.7× as likely to be recorded as a rape suspect as German citizens.
Rape & sexual offences in Germany by country of birth
| Group | Times as likely | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| German citizens | 1.0× | Baseline |
| Non-German citizens | 3.7× | 4,437 of 11,329 suspects · about 14.8% of residents |
Secondary compilation of BKA PKS tables. Non-residents are in the suspect count, so the multiple is an upper bound. Citizenship is not birthplace.
Violent offences in Germany by country of birth
Germany publishes suspect counts by nationality for this offence, but no matching population figures, so a per-capita multiple cannot be calculated.
Homicide & offences against life in Germany by country of birth
This layer only includes countries that publish a comparable per-capita rate for this offence. Missing data is not zero.
Foreign prisoner rates across Europe: where Germany ranks
- 1Greece14×
- 2Croatia9.0×
- 3Slovenia8.8×
- 4Switzerland6.8×
- 5Liechtenstein5.8×
- 6Belgium5.1×
- 7Italy4.8×
- 8Austria4.6×
- 9Finland4.3×
- 10Slovakia3.9×
- 11Cyprus3.7×
- 12Luxembourg3.5×
- 13France3.4×
- 14Iceland3.2×
- 15Poland3.2×
- 16Spain3.1×
- 17Sweden3.1×
- 18Norway2.9×
- 19Netherlands2.9×
- 20Malta2.8×
- 21Denmark2.8×
- 22Estonia2.3×
- 23Turkey2.2×
- 24Portugal1.9×
- 25Bulgaria1.7×
- 26Hungary1.6×
- 27Ireland1.1×
- 28Czech Republic0.9×
- 29Lithuania0.8×
- 30Romania0.7×
- 31Latvia0.4×
Germany migrant crime: common questions
- Are migrants more likely to commit crime in Europe?
- In the countries that publish crime rates by origin (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany), people born abroad, and some second-generation groups, are recorded as suspects, charged or convicted at higher rates than native-born residents. The multiple varies widely by offence, country of birth, age and sex. Each figure on this site is shown as times as likely, with native-born residents as the 1× baseline.
- What do the rape and sexual offence statistics by nationality show?
- Sweden publishes rape suspects by country of birth separately, which gives the clearest comparison. Norway only publishes one combined sexual-offence group that also includes non-contact offences, so its multiples are lower and not directly comparable. Every country page shows the exact measure, period and source for each multiple.
- What are the crime statistics for illegal migrants in Europe?
- No European country publishes a reliable per-capita crime rate for illegal migrants alone, because people without legal residence are not counted in the population figures needed to calculate a rate. Most official rates count registered residents by country of birth or citizenship. Germany comes closest: its police statistics (PKS) report an immigrant category (Zuwanderer) that includes asylum seekers, refugees, tolerated persons and people staying without permission. Foreign-citizen prison counts on the map can also include people without legal residence held on remand or awaiting deportation.
- Are asylum seekers more likely to commit crime?
- Germany is the main country that publishes police suspect figures for asylum seekers and refugees as a group, through the Zuwanderer category in its PKS, and that group is recorded as suspects out of proportion to its share of the population. These are suspect counts, not convictions, and the group is younger and more male than the general population, which on its own raises recorded crime rates. The Germany report on this site shows the multiples and sources.
- Are there rape statistics for illegal migrants?
- Not as a separate per-capita rate. Rape and sexual-offence statistics by origin are published by country of birth (Sweden, Norway) or citizenship and immigrant status (Germany), not by legal residence. Germany’s PKS breaks out the Zuwanderer category, which includes people staying without permission, but does not publish a rate for that subgroup on its own.
- Why are suspects, charges and convictions used instead of one measure?
- Each country publishes a different stage of the justice process. Sweden reports registered suspects, Norway reports charges, Denmark reports convictions and Germany reports police suspects. A suspect or charge is not a conviction, and one person can be counted more than once.
- How are foreign prisoner rates calculated?
- For each country, the share of prisoners holding a foreign citizenship is divided by the foreign share of the population, using Eurostat data. The result shows how many times as likely a foreign citizen is to be in prison as a citizen. Prison figures reflect sentencing, remand and deportation practice as well as offending.
- Are the numbers adjusted for age, sex or income?
- Headline multiples are unadjusted unless stated. Where a source publishes like-for-like figures, such as Norway’s figures for men aged 15–24, they are shown as a separate view so you can compare.