Victims of offences reported to the police, 2014

In 2014, a total of 161 800 different persons were registered as the victim of one or more offences. This is a decline of 9 700 victims from the year before, and is mainly due to an ever bigger decline in the number of persons exposed to theft. The number of offences reported in 2014 corresponds to 3.1 per cent of the population in Norway being victims of offences in 2014, whereof nine out of ten were victims of one or more crimes.

Fewer offences against persons and enterprises

In 2014, 372 100 offences were reported to the police. As shown in figure 2, nearly 173 900 of these were registered with persons as victims, while enterprises and other juridical units were registered as victims of 52 500 offences. This is 6.4 and 6.7 per cent less than the year before respectively.

Furthermore, 145 700 offences were registered without victims, of which narcotic and traffic-related offences make up about two thirds. As the statistics on Offences reported to the police 2014 show, there were fewer narcotic offences and somewhat more traffic offences than in 2013.

Enterprises victim of fewer other offences for profit and damage to property

In 2014, 32 700 other offences for profit and 7 200 instances of damage to property were registered with enterprises as victims, which is about 8 per cent less than the year before for both of these groups of offences. In total, these groups of offences make up three out of four offences against enterprises, and there were nearly 3 400 fewer of these offences compared to the year before. This decline nearly made up the total decline in offences against enterprises from 2013 to 2014. The decline in other offences for profit and damage to property is also the main reason for the 2014 level of offences against enterprises being as much as 28 per cent fewer than in 2009.

Population is less exposed to other offences for profit

Out of all persons registered as victims of an offence in 2014, more than two out of three were victims of at least one theft or other offences for profit. The 110 800 victims of such offences in 2014 is 10 200 fewer than the year before, which corresponds to a decline of as much as 8.4 per cent.

In total, 21.7 persons per 1 000 population were victims of other offences for profit in 2014. Thus, as shown in figure 1, the scope of these types of victims is by far the lowest level registered with this type of statistics – both in numbers and per 1 000 population. Other types of statistics and sources also show that a continually smaller share of the population is being exposed to theft and other offences for profit, and that this trend dates back even further than 2004. 

Fewer – but still most – victims of offences for profit live in Oslo

Based on county of residence in 2014, there were fewer victims of other offences for profit in almost all counties compared to the year before. The population in Oslo is still most exposed to other offences for profit, both in terms of numbers and per 1 000 population. However, the almost 24 300 victims of such offences residing in Oslo is just over 4 300 fewer than the year before, and consequently Oslo saw the biggest drop out of all counties.

In 2014, 3.8 per cent of the Oslo population was registered as victims of other offences for profit, as opposed to 5.1 per cent in 2012. Rogaland was the county with the second most exposed population, with 2.5 per cent of the population. The corresponding share for the population in Sogn og Fjordane was just 1 per cent.

Residents in densely populated municipalities mostly exposed to theft at home

As shown in figure 4, the risk of being exposed to theft increases with the number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence.

However, exposure to this type of offence is also connected with the places people spend their time. In 2014, 7 out of 10 victims of other offences for profit residing in municipalities with a population of more than 30 000 were also victimised in their municipality of residence. However, among the victims residing in municipalities with a population of less than 10 000, the majority of victims of this kind of offence were victimised in other places than in their municipality of residence.

Fewer young adults victims of offences for profit

In 2014, just over 63 900 men and nearly 46 900 women were registered as victims of theft and other offences for profit. This is 6.5 and 11 per cent less than the year before respectively.

A particularly big drop was registered among young adults – both for men and women. In 2014, the almost 17 300 men and 15 700 women in the age group 18-29 years were exposed to other offences for profit, which is just over 2 500 and 4 000 fewer than the year before respectively. The decline in victims of both sexes in this age group therefore makes up nearly two thirds of the total decline in victims of other offences for profit in 2014.

Big drop in aggravated larcenies in public places…

According to the offences reported to the police and the principal offence, 15 900 persons were victims of aggravated larceny from a person in a public place in 2014. This is as much as 5 300 fewer than the year before, and this decline nearly causes a full reversal of the large increase in such victims from 2010 to 2012.

…especially in Oslo…

Among the victims of such offences in 2014, 9 400 persons reported being victims in Oslo, which is a decline of 4 200 victims from the year before. However, more than a third of these victims in Oslo are registered as resident in places other than the capital. Thus, the decline in victims of aggravated larceny from a person in a public place in Oslo also contributed to a decline in the share of such victims among the population in other counties.

…and among young adults

Fewer victims of aggravated larceny from a person in a public place were registered in almost all age groups compared to the year before. The biggest decline was registered among persons in the age group 20-29 years, and the more than 6 200 victims of such offences in this age group was nearly 2 600 fewer than in 2013. Furthermore, this drop among young adults makes up a quarter of the total decline in victims of offences for profit in 2014.

Also fewer victims of minor larcenies

In 2014, significantly fewer victims were registered for offences that are categorised in the statistics under “other simple and minor larceny”. This category saw a drop of just over 2 700 victims from 2013, giving a total of almost 22 700. A significant share of this decline includes minor larcenies from customers or people in other public places. Additionally, nearly 4 100 persons were registered as victims of minor larceny in restaurants, which is 1 300 fewer compared to the year before.

Further decline in theft from dwellings and automobiles

The trend of continuously fewer victims of thefts from dwellings and holiday homes was extended in 2014. From the principal offence, nearly 15 000 persons were registered as victims of this type of theft, which is 5 per cent less than the year before.

In 2014, 8 900 victims of minor and aggravated larceny from means of transport were also registered. This is 14 per cent less than the year before and therefore extends a longer trend – with the number of victims being nearly halved since 2008. However, the 5 450 victims of theft of automobiles is about the same number as the year before, and for the first time since 2009 there is not an annual decline in victims of this type of theft.

On the other side, as many as 9 200 victims of fraud and breach of trust were registered, as well as almost 16 700 victims of pedal cycle thefts in 2014. This is 14 and 11.5 more than the year before respectively.

Fewer victims of violence – especially among young adults

From the offences reported to the police, a total of 23 350 persons were victims of violent crimes in 2014. This is somewhat fewer than the year before and corresponds to 4.6 victims of offences of violence per 1 000 population. In corresponding statistics for the previous decade, the scope of victims of violence has been relatively stable. However, if we take the population growth into account, the scope of victims of violence in 2014 was somewhat smaller than in most previous years.

Generally, young adults are clearly most exposed to violence in the first years after reaching the age of majority. Thereafter the violence victimisation risk declines with age. As shown in figure 6, however, the violence victimisation rate decreases among young adults between the age of 18 and 23 years. In 2014, 10.5 victims of violence per 1 000 population were registered in the age group 18-23 years. In comparison, the corresponding rate was 11.4 in 2013, while as many as 15.2 victims of violence per 1 000 population were registered in this age group in 2006.

Fewer victims of physical violence and threats

From the principal offence, nearly 15 000 persons were victims of physical violence and 5 800 persons were exposed to threats, which is 2 per cent and 5 per cent fewer than the year before respectively. As shown in figure 5, there is a decline for both men and women. Among victims of physical violence, 8 850 were victims of assault and 2 250 of the more serious violent crime “wounding or inflicting bodily harm”. For both of these types of violence, there were fewer victims than the year before.

In 2014, 29 persons were murdered and 58 persons were registered as victims of attempted murder. This is 17 and 9 more than in 2013 – a year with significantly more murders than in previous years.

More victims of psychological ill-treatment within family relations

The 3 900 victims of ill-treatment within family relations (including serious ill-treatment) in 2014 was an increase of just over 500 from the year before. Nearly all of this increase is due to more victims being exposed to ill-treatment without unlawful wounding, e.g. without physical violence. In the period 2010-2013, only about 4 per cent of victims of ill-treatment within family relations were registered as victims of this type of non-physical violence. The corresponding share in 2014, however, was 15 per cent.

More children among victims of ill-treatment

Since the introduction of the law against ill-treatment within family relations in 2006, there was a vast increase in female victims during the first years the law was in effect.

Since 2010, however, it is primarily the increase in the number of children registered as victims that pulls up the further increase in victims of ill-treatment within family relations. This trend was extended in 2014, when there was an increase of 500 victims of ill-treatment in the age group 0-19 years. Thus, as much as 61 per cent of all victims of this type of offence were under the age of 20. In comparison, the corresponding share was 39 per cent in 2010. Going further back in time, the general feature is that very few children are registered as victims, but as shown in figure 6, there are now far more children who are victims of violence.

Men and women exposed to different types of violence

In 2014, 55 per cent of victims of threats were men, and this share has been stable over a longer period of time. Among victims of assault, as much as 85 per cent were men, and the male share among victims of wounding or inflicting bodily harm was 59 per cent. On the other hand, women made up about two out of three victims of ill-treatment within family relations. Among murder victims in 2014, 16 were men and 13 were women.

Finnmark population still most exposed to violence

As in previous years, the population in Finnmark is registered as most exposed to offences of violence, with 7.5 victims of violence per 1 000 population. The populations in Telemark and Oslo were the second most exposed to violence, with 5.9 and 5.9 victims of violence per 1 000 population respectively. As illustrated in figure 7, the population in these counties is far more exposed to violence than the Sogn og Fjordane population, where 2.6 victims of violence per 1 000 population were registered in 2014.

Nearly nine out of ten victims of sexual crimes were women

In 2014, 3 700 persons were registered as victims of sexual offences. Of these, 1 068 were registered as victims of rape, while 80 were victims of attempted rape. Furthermore, there were 740 victims of sexual intercourse with children. Both in total, and for each of the aforementioned sexual offences, there were about the same number of victims registered as the year before. In 2014, 87 per cent of the victims of sexual offences were women.