Germany reports lowest crime rate since 1992

The number of criminal offences recorded in Germany decreased in 2018 compared to the previous years, according to police crime statistics presented by the country's Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer, on Tuesday.

Last year, German police reported 5.5 million criminal offences, a decrease of 3.6 percent compared to 2017. This was also the lowest rate since 1992, the reference year.

"For the second time in a row, the number of crimes committed in Germany is declining. The federal and state security authorities are doing an excellent job in fighting crime," said Seehofer.

At 56.5 percent, the German police's crime clearance rate last year was the highest since 2005.

"Even one act of crime is, of course, one too many. But, objectively, this is the lowest rate in decades," Seehofer stressed, adding that "Germany is one of the safest countries in the world."

However, the statistics only showed crimes that the German police had dealt with, but not the number of uncleared offences.

At the press conference on Tuesday, Holger Muench, president of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) presented the results of a so-called "victimization survey" for 2017, in which 31,000 Germans were asked about their sense of security.

"One of the central findings of the 2017 'victimization survey' is that Germany is a safe country in terms of the actual crime rate and people's perceived sense of security," a BKA spokesperson told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Compared to 2012, when the survey was established, the feeling of insecurity among German citizens has increased slightly, but remained at a comparatively low level, the BKA spokesperson said.

The survey also showed that each year less than one percent of citizens was affected by more serious forms of crime, such as home burglary, robbery or vehicle theft.