Reported criminal offences

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Population and Education, Social Statistics
Iben Birgitte Pedersen
+45 23 60 37 11

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Reported criminal offences 2023

The statistics analyze the number of criminal offences in violation of the criminal code and the special laws (except those contained in the Danish Road Traffic Act) to the police. The statistics on reported criminal offences date back to 1921. Until 1990, Statistics Denmark received monthly copies of the offence reports from the police for registration. Since 1 January 1990, Statistics Denmark has received data both quarterly and annually from the Central Register of Reported Offences, a register administered by the National Commissioner of the Danish Police.

Statistical presentation

The statistics show the number of offences of criminal code and special laws/legislation reported to the police or discovered by the police itself.

The statistics on reported criminal offences form part of the Danish System of Criminal Statistics. The System of Criminal Statistics includes data on criminal cases from the reported offences and charges to the convictions plus arrests and imprisonments.

Statistical processing

The source of the statistics is The Central Register of Reported Criminal Offences - administered by the National Commissioner of the Danish Police. Data are delivered yearly via System-to-system transmission.

The data go through a probability check in form of a comparison with data from the previous year, key variables are checked for valid values and irrelevant offences are deleted.

Relevance

The statistics are used broadly by the authorities, organizations, researchers, the press etc. The tables in the statbank.dk are used frequently. Views and suggestions from key users are taken into consideration in the preparation of the statistics.

Accuracy and reliability

The accuracy of the statistics on reported criminal offences is considered to be good. The data come from a single administrative register system storing information on all reported crimes. Analyses have shown that approximately 5 percentages of the crimes registered in a calendar year, are committed in an earlier year. Corresponding approximately 5 percentages of all crimes reported committed in a calendar year are not registered until a following year. The statistics do not include information on the hidden criminality, i.e. committed criminal offences not reported to the police.

Timeliness and punctuality

The publishing time for the statistics is about 2 months. The statistics are usually published without delay in relation to the scheduled date.

Comparability

The statistics have been prepared on the same basis since 1990. Due to changes in the grouping of the criminal offences and changes in the 'clear-up-concept' caution should be shown by comparing figures over time before this year.

Eurostat collects annual data from the member states on reported criminal offences and publishes statistics based on this. However, according to the Eurostat metadata, the range of items included in the different groups of crime differs between countries and comparisons based upon absolute figures are therefore misleading.

Accessibility and clarity

These statistics are published yearly in a Danish press release. In the StatBank, these statistics can be found under Reported criminal offences. For further information, go to the subject page.