Higher sexual crime rate in Germany: the 2026 Police Crime Statistics

Germany has seen its first drop in registered crime by 5,6 percent since 2022, but the rate of sexual offences has increased. 

German Police Criminal Statistics for 2025

On April 20, Federal Minister for Internal Affairs Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) presented the Police Crime Statistics for 2025. According to an analysis by the tagesschau, the German police registered approximately 5,5 million crimes in 2025.

This includes a decrease in the number of violent crimes by 2,3 percent, and less theft. Slightly lower than in 2024, Dobrindt reasons that the drop in the crime rate is due to the partial legalisation of cannabis.

However, the number of sexually motivated crimes rose significantly by 8,5 percent, with a total of 14.454 registered incidents. This includes rape, sexual assault, and sexual coercion. The president of the Federal Criminal Office, Holger Münch, believes the increase stems from a greater readiness to report sexual crimes.

A majority of offenders are friends, acquaintances or (former) partners of victims. 98,6 percent of them are male.

Data also shows an increase in ownership and production of youth pornography, as well as a 6,5 percent higher rate in murder and manslaughter. The statistic does not cover traffic, finance or tax offences. 

Germany's crime statistics face criticism

Critics of the Police Criminal Statistics remark that the report does not include offences that go unregistered. In many cases of sexual offences or dependency dynamics between victims and perpetrators, victims do not address the crimes with the police, or only do so later on.

Additionally, the statistic excludes sentences. This may cause false verdicts, as only approximately 30 percent of offenders are actually prosecuted in Germany.

Dobrindt to increase police jurisdiction

Dobrindt has announced plans to expand the jurisdiction of the German police. The tagesschau specifically mentions the plan to enable police to analyse large amounts of data using artificial intelligence (AI). In the summer of 2025, Dobrindt was already considering adopting Palentir, the US-based AI surveillance system, for the German police. 

Back then, critics remarked that this type of data analysis would violate the fundamental right to informational self-determination and telecommunications secrecy, due to the system's deep connections to the US secret service.