site.btaCrime Down by 1%, Clearance Rate Up by 0.1% in 2024, Y/Y - Interior Ministry

Bulgaria's Interior Ministry on Wednesday reported a 1% decrease in crime and a 0.1% increase in the clearance rate in 2024 compared to 2023. According to preliminary data, a total of 83,346 offences were recorded last year, of which 86.9% were against the person and property and 13.1% were against the economy. The 41,515 offences that were cleared in 2024 represented 49.8% of the total, up from the 41,869 or 49.7% in 2023, the Ministry says in its annual activity report.

Nine of the country's 28 administrative regions recorded a crime intensity above the national average: Vratsa (1,587.2 offences per 100,000 population), Montana (1,581.3), Ruse (1,526.5), Varna (1,520.2), Burgas (1,487.7), Lovech (1,486.8), Vidin (1,480.7), Sofia City (1,444.2) and Stara Zagora (1,324.3).

The largest number of criminal offences were recorded in Sofia City (18,539, or 22.2% of the total), followed by the regions of Varna (6,575, or 7.9%), Plovdiv (6,209, or 7.4%), Burgas (5,676, or 6.8%) and Stara Zagora (3,855, or 4.6%). The smallest number of offences were recorded in the regions of Smolyan (644, or 0.8% of the total), Silistra (886, or 1.1%), Kardzhali (1,001, or 1.2%), Vidin and Targovishte (1,070 each, or 1.3%), Gabrovo (1,120, or 1.3%), and Razgrad (1,159, or 1.4%).

Sixteen regions reported a decrease in the number of recorded offences compared to 2023. The most substantial decline was in Yambol (17.5%), Vidin (13.0%), Stara Zagora (12.5%), Gabrovo (11.9%), and Silistra (11.6%). An increase was observed in 12 regions, the biggest one being in Ruse (17.5%), followed by Pazardzhik (14.2%) and Razgrad (9.4%).

A total of 45,075 offenders were registered in 2024 (including from previous years.) The largest proportion, 36%, were aged over 40, and 29.8% were in the 18-30 age group. Offenders aged 14 to 17 were 7.3%, and those under 14 were 3%.

The 72,438 personal and property offences recorded in 2024 were 0.9% fewer than the 73,111 on record for 2023.

The 58 premeditated murders recorded in 2024 were 21.6% fewer than the 74 in 2023, and 56 or 96.6% of these offences were solved. The attempted murders decreased by 15.6% from 2023.

The 31,118 offences against personal property recorded last year were 7.6% fewer than the 33,693 in 2023. Among them, thefts were the most numerous: 23,727 of 76.2% of the total. They decreased by 9.3% from the 26,153 recorded in 2023. Solved thefts last year numbered 11,118. Shoplifting was the commonest form of theft. Residential burglaries declined by 9.8% from 2023. The clearance rate increased by 1.1 percentage points, from 36.3% to 37.4%, year on year.

Frauds grew by 8.4%. Out of the recorded 1,426 offences of this type, 213 were solved. The clearance rate dropped by 3.1 percentage points, from 18% to 14.9%. Telephone frauds increased by 85%, from 147 recorded in 2023 to 272 in 2024.

Offences endangering the general public increased by 3.1% in comparison to 2023, and arsons alone grew by 8.9% . The 1,163 inflictions of damage to motor vehicles represented an 11.7% decrease in comparison to 2023, when a total of 1,317 were recorded. With 274 cases solved, the clearance rate reached 23.6%, or 0.4 percentage points up from 23.2% in 2023.

The 2,551 domestic violence cases recorded in 2024 was 65.5% more than the 1,541 in 2023. The clearance rate was 59.2%, up by 4 percentage points from 2023.

Malfeasance in office and non-officials' offences probably motivated by corruption increased from 198 in 2023 to 216 in 2024. Corruption offences proper decreased from 91 in 2023 to 68 in 2024. Officials' offences probably motivated by corruption declined from 153 in 2023 to 125 in 2024.

Migration pressure slumped by 70% from 2023, the Interior Ministry reports. The 2,543 third-country nationals detained upon entry into Bulgaria in 2024 were 41% more numerous than the 1,803 in 2023. The 1,505 persons residing without authorization who were deported in 2024 were 79.6% more than the 565 in 2023.

The Interior Ministry notes that criminal structures that were previously involved in drug, weapons and excise goods trafficking are reorienting to the more lucrative migrant trafficking. Twenty-nine police operations were carried out against them in 2024, including either international ones coordinated by Europol. Persons implicated in the activities of organized crime groups that were detained number 174, of whom 48 have been charged.

The 7,166 serious road traffic accidents that occurred in 2024 were 2.5% more than the 172 in 2023. In these accidents, 479 people were killed (46 or 8.8% fewer than a year earlier) and 9,047 were injured (55 or 0.6% fewer).