Migrants accounted for slightly less than nine percent of all suspects in the area of “general crime,” according to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). In 2024, the report states, there were a total of 1.97 million suspects, of whom 697,000 did not have German citizenship and 172,000 were defined as migrants by the BKA.
The BKA published these figures in its annual overview report “Crime in the Context of Migration.” The term migrants or “refugees residing in Germany” in this report refers to asylum seekers, recognized refugees, persons with a suspension of deportation, and persons obliged to leave the country. “General crime” refers to offenses not motivated by politics. Violations of foreign nationals’ residence law are also not counted here.
Compared to their share of the population, foreigners are registered sufficiently in police crime statistics (PCS), both as suspects and as victims. This is due, first, to demographics: the proportion of young men among foreigners is higher than among Germans, and this group, regardless of nationality, is more frequently involved in crime, as an internal BKA analysis in the spring of this year, for example, showed.
Additional social factors contribute, such as lower levels of education and income, personal experiences of violence, and living circumstances, for example in asylum accommodation centers—all considered risk factors. There is also an “increased willingness to report crimes” against people perceived as “foreign” or “migrants,” the BKA noted.
Number of Cases in Sexual Offenses Declined
In the areas of murder, manslaughter, and intentional homicide not meeting the definition of murder, migrants made up about twelve percent of all suspects, according to the report. Their share was also about twelve percent for thefts, property crimes, and forgeries. For sexual offenses, so-called violent crimes such as assault, and drug crimes, between eight and ten percent of suspects were migrants.
The number of migrants suspected of sexual offenses decreased by 3.9 percent, while the overall figures for this category in the PCS increased. The situation was the opposite for violent crimes: here, the numbers among migrants grew more strongly than overall.
The number of migrants suspected of organized crime, such as drug trafficking or human smuggling, increased by 9.4 percent at the same time. In almost every third organized crime investigation, migrants were listed as suspects.
Numbers Declined Due to Cannabis Legalization
Overall, the number of migrants among suspects decreased by 3.6 percent last year compared to the previous year. One reason: the “traffic light” coalition government partially legalized cannabis in April 2024. A comparison with the previous year, as noted by the BKA, therefore has limited informative value because the partial legalization affected the statistics.
The number of “refugees residing in Germany” exceeded three million for the first time in 2024 (2023: 2.9 million), according to the report. More than a third came from Ukraine (1.1 million), followed by Syria (629,000), Afghanistan (323,000), and Iraq (167,000). Germany’s total population is about 83.5 million, with the migrant share at approximately 3.6 percent.
The suspect share among Ukrainians was 12.8 percent, significantly lower than their share among migrants (35.7 percent), the overview states. The opposite situation, according to the report, is observed among persons from Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia). They comprised only 0.5 percent of migrants, but their share among migrant suspects reached 9.1 percent.
Suspects from these countries, as well as from Libya and Georgia, were also particularly often suspected of multiple offenses, according to the report. Nearly every third migrant among suspects was suspected of multiple crimes. They were involved in 77 percent of all crimes where migrants were suspects.
Syrians and Afghans accounted for about 21 and 10 percent of suspects respectively, roughly corresponding to their share of migrants residing in Germany.
For the first time, the Federal Criminal Police Office also analyzed where crimes occur most frequently. More than one in four crimes (27.5 percent) involving at least one migrant suspect occurred in service and trade establishments, for example, shops. The second most common crime scene was public transport (19.5 percent). Public streets were the scene significantly less often, in 13.8 percent of cases.
The BKA overview also examined politically motivated crimes against migrants. According to the report, registered politically motivated, right-wing extremist crimes increased by about 15 percent. These primarily involve incitement to hatred, insults, propaganda offenses, property damage, coercion, and threats. The number of violent crimes decreased slightly, according to the data.
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