Residential burglaries in the EU down by 38% in a decade

As summer holidays begin, police authorities everywhere are urging residents to take extra care to protect their homes against burglaries and break-ins.

In 2024, police recorded 1.20 million burglary offences in the EU, of which 721 876 (60.3%) were burglaries of private residential premises. Compared with 2023, burglaries decreased by 2.6% (-32 589 cases) and residential burglaries by 0.5% (-3 736).

Data show a downward trend in both types of offences over the last decade. Burglaries declined by 35.4% in 2024, from 1.86 million cases in 2014, registering a continuous decrease until 2021 (1.1 million), when it reached the lowest value in the 10-year analysis.

Compared with 2014, residential burglaries dropped in 2024 by 38.1%, from 1.17 million cases in 2014, recording the same evolution as the main category. In 2021, the number of police-recorded burglaries of private residences reached the lowest level in a decade, at 642 244 cases, increasing again in the following 2 years.

Source dataset: crim_off_cat