Further drop in solved offences

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A total of 287 600 offences were investigated by the police and prosecution authority in 2018, which is 0.4 per cent less than the year before. A continued decline in solved offences led to fewer charged persons.

In 2018, there was a flattening of the long-running trend of an annual decline in the number of offences investigated. Following the decline in investigated offences in the reform year of 2017, 2018 is more on a par with offences reported to the police the same year, with an increase in several groups of offences. For the country as a whole, the investigation of 2 080 fewer property thefts and 2 250 fewer drug and alcohol offences was completed than the year before. However, the investigation was completed for 1 720 more offences of violence and maltreatment than the year before, with a corresponding increase of 830 for sexual offences. This represents increases of 6 and 15 per cent respectively.

Fewer solved, and more unsolved offences

In 2018, 141 000 offences were solved, which is 3 per cent less than the year before and the lowest since the 1990s. The 2018 decline is partly explained by the 9 per cent drop in solved property thefts and 8 per cent drop in solved narcotic offences.

Figure 1. Offences investigated, by police decision. Absolute figures

Prosecution dropped insufficient information about the offender Prosecution dropped deficient evidence Prosecution dropped deficient capasity and other unsolved Prosecution dropped, the offender not liable Transferred to Conflict Council Ticket fine Committed for trial Prosecution dropped and other solved
1998 195778 42280 5082 7680 2251 51605 73177 24242
1999 193843 44545 4372 8531 2109 56543 84165 24901
2000 199808 44253 4889 9024 2227 60830 78764 25531
2001 183762 44066 4214 9004 2272 69774 87466 25495
2002 182894 38280 7251 7894 1614 62054 77989 24068
2003 181182 40776 7998 7539 1883 64161 85101 26272
2004 169435 42718 6175 8718 2170 69839 86359 27792
2005 158296 40448 4602 9290 2624 70005 88962 24847
2006 153336 37385 4560 7974 2578 71971 82842 21797
2007 152919 37238 6663 9664 2620 75811 79794 21642
2008 147174 38562 6745 14116 2803 71941 79178 21883
2009 155804 37661 8436 8172 2737 68675 71082 21824
2010 142257 40081 9282 7838 2550 70783 74144 22967
2011 137436 39345 10185 7587 2426 68568 74957 22685
2012 139540 37706 12141 6600 2319 66960 69944 24593
2013 133482 38835 12774 6470 2381 69226 68598 25373
2014 120640 40997 13304 7148 2129 66691 70015 28401
2015 108735 40104 11237 7007 2079 66274 67131 26597
2016 100805 42141 10282 7305 2194 65032 68632 23012
2017 90282 41200 11241 7639 2147 56684 58691 20953
2018 91797 42562 12259 8103 1812 53039 57104 20971

Concurrent to the drop in solved offences, the number of unsolved offences increased by 3 per cent from the year before. In 2018, 1 170 more unsolved incidents of fraud and 730 more unsolved violations of weapons, fire and explosives legislation contributed to the increase.

Fewer persons charged

The drop in solved offences led to a drop of more than 4 per cent in charges and charged persons from 2017. In 2018, 143 000 charges were registered against a total of 70 500 persons, of which 48 000 were registered with only one charge each. This is an extension of the decade long development of annual declines in charged persons, starting in the peak year of 2007 – as described in previous articles. However, the developments depend on the charged persons’ principal offence. For sexual offences, the number of charged persons has seen an increase of 66 per cent over the previous decade – from 1 050 in 2008 to 1 740 in 2018.

More rapes investigated – lower clear-up rate

In 2018, the investigation was completed for 6 490 sexual offences. The majority of the increase of 830 sexual offences from the year before stems from cases with illegal pornography or pictures of children and adolescents under 18 years of age.

Figure 2. Number of rapes in total, by police decision. Absolute figures. (Per cent solved in parentheses.)

2008 (40 %) 2018 (33 %)
Prosecution dropped, insufficient information about the offender 122 114
Prosecution dropped, deficient evidence 612 1152
Unsolved, other 15 27
Prosecution dropped, the offender not liable 62 125
Solved, other 111 115
Committed for trial 319 393

The trend of more investigated rapes continued in 2018, as shown in figure 2. In 2018, 1 930 rapes were settled by the legal system, compared to 1 240 ten years before. However, an increasing share of the investigated rapes remain unsolved; most frequently dropped due to insufficient evidence.

New classification of offences back to 2002

Statistics Norway is now releasing statistics according to the new Standard for types of offence. Types of offence 2015 was drawn up as a consequence of the penal code of 2005 and the new police codes for registering offences coming into effect on 1 October 2015. The standard includes new groupings of both Type of offence and Group of offence, while the offence categories crime and misdemeanour have been discontinued. The new classification of offences is available in StatBank for figures dating back to 2002. The old classification is still available for figures from all years up until 2014. A detailed overview, including how this corresponds to the police codes for offences, is now available in Statistical Classifications and Code Lists.

The 2015 changes made in penal legislation, offence registration and crime classification have led to partial breaks in the time series that use types of offence. These changes affect the different crime statistics and types of offences in different ways, and make the use and interpretation of these statistics more challenging.

Biggest share of foreign citizens among persons charged with other offence for profit

While there was a considerable increase in the share of foreign citizens among charged persons up until 2013, the share has since been stable at around 23 per cent. However, this share varies among types of offences. As shown in figure 3, the share of foreign citizens among persons charged with property theft has fallen from 35 per cent in the peak year of 2013 to 28 per cent in 2018. Concurrently, the share of foreign citizens among those charged with other offences for profit, which among other offences include violations of the Customs Act, rose from 31 to 33 per cent.

Figure 3. Share of persons charged without Norwegian citizenship, by group of principal offence

2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
Other offences 19.4 21.3 12.7 14.3 14.8 13.2
Traffic offences 23.9 24.3 22.9 22.7 21.9 20.4
Public order and integrity violations 22.3 23.3 24.7 23.4 25.6 24.2
Drug and alcohol offences 21.1 21.6 20.3 20.5 20.5 20.1
Sexual offences 12.6 12.7 13.3 12.5 13.2 12.7
Violence and maltreatment 16.9 17.7 18.1 16.7 17.3 16.7
Criminal damage 14.3 13.7 15.1 11.7 13.4 12.6
Other offences for profit 33 32 29.2 30.3 31.3 31.1
Property theft 27.7 27.3 29 29.7 33.3 34.6
All groups of offences 22.7 23.1 22.6 22.6 23.3 22.6

New police districts from 1 January 2016

On 1 January 2016, Norwegian police were organised into new regional districts, where 27 police districts were reduced to 12. This new organisation was implemented gradually during the course of 2017 and 2018, but as of 2016, Statistics Norway will only release statistics by the new police districts in StatBank.

The new police districts are mainly organised by merging the former districts. However, in the new organisation, the former Midtre Hålogaland PD is divided by the county border between new Nordland PD and Troms PD. For a detailed overview of the new police districts, including their relation to municipalities, see Statistical Classifications and Code Lists and About the statistics.