Crime on the rise in Switzerland, as does the sense of security
Keystone-SDA
Crime in Switzerland rose between 2022 and 2025, both according to police statistics and in terms of unreported cases.
The increase is particularly evident in property offences and fraud. At the same time fewer and fewer people feel safe. This is the finding of a study published today by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and the University of St Gallen (HSG).
According to the study, entitled Crime Survey 2025, an increasing number of people are falling victim to crime. For almost all the offences examined, a greater number of respondents reported having been victims compared with the last survey in 2022. The most striking increase relates to fraud: over the course of a year, 15.9% of respondents were affected, compared with 8.4% in 2022.
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At the same time, reporting rates have remained virtually unchanged. “This means that the rise in recorded crime is not primarily attributable to a greater willingness to report offences,” says Dirk Baier, co-leader of the Crime Survey project and professor at the ZHAW. Sexual offences are an exception to the general trend, as no increase in the victimisation rate was observed for these offences.
Meanwhile, feelings of insecurity in the face of crime are on the rise. Some 83.1% of the sample – comprising 13,500 people aged between 16 and 80 living throughout Switzerland – feel fairly or very safe after dark in their neighbourhood, a figure down from 87.6% in 2022.
The proportion of people who have been afraid of becoming victims of a crime on the street in the last twelve months has increased. Furthermore, more respondents consider the police presence in public spaces to be insufficient: 37.9%, compared with 28.9% in 2022. Trust in the police, however, remains high.
Overall, the researchers do not regard the decline in the sense of security and the fear of crime as dramatic. “We must take this development seriously, without over-dramatising it. Despite the decline in the sense of safety, the population continues to perceive Switzerland as a safe country,” says Nora Markwalder, co-director of the project and professor at the HSG.
A supplementary report examines domestic violence. Overall, the proportion of people who have experienced at least one form of domestic violence over a five-year period has not changed significantly compared with 2022. Women remain significantly more affected than men: 5.4% of women and 2.2% of men report such experiences.
“The fact that women are affected by domestic violence at a significantly higher rate than men is evident not only from official statistics but also from unreported cases,” notes Baier. “The findings therefore underline the importance of further preventive measures against violence against women.” Among the individual forms of violence examined, only domestic hate crimes show a statistically significant increase compared with 2022.
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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
