More people fell victim of fraud

In total, 143 000 different persons were registered as victims of 155 000 offences during 2018, according to new figures from the statistics Victims of offences reported to the police. This corresponds to 2.7 per cent of the Norwegian population reporting to be victims of an offence.

The number of persons who fell victim of crime is 2.1 per cent more than the year before, and the increase is partly explained with more persons reporting to be victims of fraud than in any previous year with statistics on victims of offences. However, the long lasting decline in reported property theft continued in 2018, which explains why the overall scope of persons being victims of crime still is smaller than in all years in the period 2004-2016, as shown in figure 1.

16 800 persons were victims of fraud in 2018

While enterprises report far fewer frauds than before, the opposite development is seen for persons. From the principal offence in 2018, 16 800 persons reported to be victims of fraud. Thus, 19 per cent more persons were victimised of fraud in 2018 than the year before, and the increase in victims of fraud corresponds to nearly all of the total increase in persons as victims of crime.

Compared to the average number of fraud victims during the period 2013-2017, the 2018 increase was as big as nearly 42 per cent, and the trend of more persons reporting to be victims of fraud is evident for both women and men – in all ages, and in every county.

Continued decline in theft victims

From the principal offence in 2018, 65 000 persons reported to be victims of property theft, which is 2 per cent less than the year before. This furthers the trend of an annual decline in the number of theft victims, which is reduced by nearly 40 per cent since 2013.

In 2018, nearly 12 100 persons were registered as victims of theft from dwelling and holiday home, while close to 9 700 persons were victims of theft of and from a motor vehicle. This is 5 and 9 per cent fewer than in 2017 respectively. Furthermore, the police registered 24 600 victims of theft from the person, and among these 7 200 reported the scene of crime to be a shop or other sales outlet. Nearly 5 000 persons reported being victimised while on public transport, while a park, street or other recreational area was the scene of crime for close to 3 900 of the theft victims.

Fewer victims of severe violence, but more rape victims

In total, 32 800 different persons were registered as victims of violence and maltreatment in 2018, which 2 per cent more than the years before – as shown in figure 2. The increase from 2017 is due to more persons reporting incidents of less severe violence, and 2018 saw a combined increase of 5 per cent more victims of assault, threats and extortion from the year before.

However, 2018 also saw a decrease in victims of the most severe types of violence. The 2 000 victims of bodily harm and nearly 4 700 victims of maltreatment in close relations marked a drop of 5 and 7.5 per cent from the year before respectively. In 2018, the police registered 25 murders, of which 16 victims were men and 9 were women.

In 2018, a total of 2 400 victims of rape were registered, according to the current definition of rape in the penal code and the crime statistics. The number of rape victims is 10 per cent higher than the year before, and the increase is all but exclusively due to a rise in victims under 30 years of age. Furthermore, 1 000 victims of sexual act and 1 100 victims of sexually abusive behaviour were registered in 2018. This is 11 and over 6 per cent fewer than in 2017 respectively, but still more than in all year prior to the new penal code coming into effect in 2015.

Young adult most frequent both among victim and perpetrator

The statistics on offences investigated and sanctions show that young adults, especially in ages 18-20 years, still are most frequently charged and sanctioned for offences. Notwithstanding, the scope of charged persons under 30 years of age are reduced by nearly a third in the period 2007-2017, thus being less overrepresented among sanctioned persons than before.

The police reports show that young adults from the age of majority and through their 20’s also are significantly most exposed to crime victimisation. When we factor in the composition of population, the 20-22-year olds are most overrepresented, but with a drop of as much as 40 per cent during the last ten years, this age group is also subject to the biggest decline in crime victims. In 2018, the number of victims aged 20-22 years made up 4.6 per cent of the corresponding age group in the population.

Among the youngest population the number of victims has increased drastically over time, mainly due to more children being registered as victims of violence and maltreatment and sexual offences. In 2018, the police registered a total of 4 600 aged 0-9 years. These are some fewer than the year before, but still more than in all preceding years with statistics on victims.

Oslo population most at-risk of theft

When victims are broken down by county of residence, the Oslo population is by far most at risk of crime. In 2018, 27 300 victims were registered with Oslo as the county of residence, and when factoring in the size of population this represents as much as 52 per cent more than the figure for the whole of Norway.

However, the Oslo population’s risk of victimisation is closely connected to the high number of theft victims in the capital, as shown in figure 3. In general, municipalities with a population of 50 000 or more have a bigger share of victims of theft, which corresponds with the results from the survey on living conditions – victimisation and fear of crime.

The population of Telemark county are second most at risk of offences with 30.2 victims per 1 000 population, while the Sogn og Fjordane population are the least at risk with a corresponding figure of 16.3.

However, if we disregard the victims of theft Finnmark has the most at-risk population. When factoring in the number of inhabitants in each county, Finnmark had a bigger share of victims for sexual offences, violence and maltreatment and property theft than in any other county.

Enterprises report fewer offences

In 2018, 41 200 of the offences reported to the police were registered with an enterprise as the victim, which is more than 6 per cent fewer than the year before. During the last ten years we have seen a considerable drop in the number of enterprises reporting offences and compared to 2009 there were nearly 44 per cent fewer offences reported with enterprise victims. More than half of this decline is due to the drop in property theft, while enterprises also report far fewer incidents of damage to property and fraud than ten years ago.