European Commission - Eurostat

F4: Income and living conditions; Quality of life

European Commission - Eurostat

Unit ESTAT.F.4: Income and living conditions; Quality of life

L-2920 Luxembourg

For crime and criminal justice there are several different types of statistics from different sources: police, prosecution, courts, prisons. The figures from 2008 onwards are based on the joint Eurostat-UNODC data collection. It is available at country level for European Union Member States, EFTA countries, EU Candidate countries, and EU Potential Candidates.

From 2008 onwards, the statistics include:

• Police-recorded offences by crime, such as homicide, assault, sexual violence, robbery, burglary, theft, drug crimes.
• Homicide victims by age, gender, and relationship to offender.
• Offenders by justice process stage: suspected, prosecuted, convicted; and by age and gender.
• Personnel by institution: police, prosecution, courts, and prisons; and by gender.
• Legal cases by type: criminal, civil, commercial, administrative.
• Legal cases by stage: brought to court, resolved, and pending.
• Prisoners by age, gender, and citizenship.
• Prison capacity and occupancy.

For the period 1993 – 2007:

• Number of police-recorded crimes by type:
  homicide, violence, robbery, home burglary, car thefts, and drug crimes.

For the period 1950 – 2000:

• Total number of police-recorded crimes.

Crimes are classified by the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS).

Regions are classified by Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS).

Legal status is classified according to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime definitions.

Not applicable.

Each country is asked to provide details of any divergence from standard definition.

This information is found in the metadata files correspond to database table section 3.4 Recorded offences by offence category - police data (crim_off_cat),  Persons in the criminal justice system (crim_just) and Court processes (crim_crt).

There are three different statistical units:

• Offence: reported criminal act
• Case: criminal trial, and other types of court hearings
• People, depending on the stype of statistics: employees, victims, offenders, suspects, prosecuted, convicted, prisoners

The following list shows the statistical unit for each database table:

For administrative data, the statistical population for each statistic is the complete register (all the relevant records). The group of individuals depends on the type of unit (see 3.5).

For people, all ages and nationalities are usually counted.

European Union Member States, EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, EU Candidate countries Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Turkey, Serbia, and the EU Potential Candidate countries Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

Certain territories are excluded and more details are provided in 10.6

The current tables are available  from 2008 onwards.

Before 2008:

Total crime are available from 1950 for Denmark, Germany, Estonia, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, England and Wales; from 1980 for most other countries.

Selected offences - are available from 1993.

Police officers - are available from 1993.

Prison population - are available from 1987.

Publications 2008 – 2020 used 2008 as base year.

• Absolute number.
• Rate by 100.000 population size.

 Population size defined as resident population January 1^st according to Eurostat database population figures.

  Publications 2008 – 2015 used a simple index (100*y_t/y₀)

Crime offences - the standard reference period is the calendar year.

Criminal Justice Personnel – the standard reference date is 31 December.

Prison figures - the reference date in a given year differs across jurisdictions.

The 2004 Hague Programme November: Strengthening freedom, justice and security in the European Union.

The Hague Programme, OJ C 53 of 3.3.2005, p.11 at

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52005XG0303(01)

The 2009 Stockholm Programme: An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:115:SOM:EN:HTML

Not applicable.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Not applicable.

In general, data are released approximately 18 months after the reference year.

Not applicable.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Annual.

Ad hoc news releases 1-2 times per year.

"Crime and Criminal Justice" - Statistics Explained  published on June 2022 

Publication Crime section - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/crime/publications

Tables are available on-line in Eurostat webpage  Crime Database  and are updated annually. 

Not applicable.

Statistics Explained articles.

Each country determines the methodology and is responsible for its documentation. Data are produced by official authorities such as the police, prosecution, court administration, the ministry of the interior, the ministry of justice and the prison administration. Each country determine which authority or statistical office that should collect, check, and send data and documentation.

Geographical coverage

The table below shows the geographical coverage of the crime and criminal justice statistics provided in the joint Eurostat-UNODC data collection, for the relevant jurisdictions.

Different national criminal justice authorities may have different geographical coverages.

: = no information given   

^ = information received during previous data collection and not available in current one

France: 'included French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, New Caledonia, Saint Barthélemy, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna Islands'

Denmark: 'excluded Greenland'

The Netherlands: 'excluded Aruba, Bonaire, Curação, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten'

Methodological rules – Stage of data collection

The point in time when the offence is recorded in the statistics differs among countries.

Offences recorded by the Police can be registered:

-         at the time the offence is first reported to the police ('INPUT' statistics);

-         after the offence is first reported, but before a full investigation ('PROCESS' statistics);

-         after the offence has been investigated ('OUTPUT' statistics).

Court statistics can also be counted BEFORE or AFTER a case is appealed.

: = no information given   

^ = information received during previous data collection and not available in current one

Methodological rules – Counting unit

Police, prosecution and courts authorities in jurisdictions use different units for recording offences. For instance police usually count the offence but in some jurisdictions the case or investigation is also used.

According to the statistical unit used, figures may differ from one country to another. For example a case may include several offences, or a decision may refer to more than one offence.

The counting unit used by the prosecution and courts may be for instance, the number of people charged or proceedings.

Different national criminal justice authorities may have different counting rules.

 : = no information given  

 ^ = information received during previous data collection and not available in current one

Methodological rules – Counting rule for multiple (serial) offences of the same type (Police)

Jurisdictions have different rules regarding how multiple (serial) offences of the same type are recorded: multiple offences of the same type can be counted as ‘one offence’ or as ‘two or more offences’. 

For instance if an offender has robbed on ten separate occasions, it is important to know if this is counted as one offence or ten offences.

^ = information received during previous data collection and not available in current one

: = no information given  

Methodological rules – Counting rule for when an offence is committed by more than one person (Police)

An offence can also be counted different when more than one person commits the offence.

For instance if a robbery is committed by three persons, some jurisdictions count one offence, while others count one offence for each offender.

^ = information received during previous data collection and not available in current one

: = no information given  

Methodological rules – Use of Principal Offence Rule

A “Principal Offence Rule” means that where more than one offence is committed simultaneously, only the most serious offence is recorded.

Different criminal justice authorities may have different “Principal Offence Rules”.

: = no information given  

 ^ = information received during previous data collection and not available in current one

: = no information given  

Methodological rules – Counting of persons for multiple (serial) offences of the same type

The counting rules applied when an offender has committed several offences of the same type (serial offences) can differ by jurisdiction and according to the registering authority. For instance in some jurisdictions an offender who is accused of committing two robberies is counted as one person, while in others the offender is counted separately for each of the two offences.

Different national criminal justice authorities may have different counting rules.

: = no information given  

Methodological rules – Counting the same person multiple times in the same year

This rule refers to the question of how a person who has committed offences more than once (on separate occasions) in one year is counted for statistical purposes. For example if a person is brought into formal contact with the police for the offence of assault at the beginning of a particular year and is then arrested, prosecuted and convicted for another assault in the same year, it is important to know whether the offender is counted as one person or as two persons.

Different national criminal justice authorities may have different counting rules.

: = no information given  

Methodological rules – Adult and juvenile age threshold

Police relates to persons brought into formal contact with police and / or criminal justice system.

Prosecution relates to persons prosecuted.

Courts relates to persons convicted

Prisons relates to persons held.

Different criminal justice authorities may have different age thresholds for defining adults and juveniles.

Juvenile

This table highlights MINIMUM age of Juvenile and if the MAXIMUM age is different from “under 18 years of age”.

: = no information given

^ = information received during previous data collection and not available in current one

(d) = MAXIMUM age is “under 18 years of age”

Adult

This table highlights if the definition used for adults is “18 years or older” or not.

: = no information given

^ = information received during previous data collection and not available in current one

(d) = MAXIMUM age is “under 18 years of age”

"Persons held" refers to  different date from 31 December

Not applicable.

Data are provided to Eurostat by a contact designated by each country. Notably, this contact can be another authority than the national statistical office. Each country determine its own procedures for gathering data from several different authorities (see point 10.6.).

No assessment has been made.

The need to provide information on the development of crime in the European Union was recognised in the Hague Programme adopted by the European Council in 2004.

Some EU institutional users communicate statistical needs to Eurostat on a regular basis.

No user satisfaction survey has been done .

Data is missing for some countries, for some or all years, in nearly all tables, for all types of statistics.

Principally, administrative crime statistics indicates the registration and handling of cases by authorities such as police, prosecution, courts, and prisons.

Relative to the administrative data used, the accuracy is largely unknown.

Relative to total crime occurrence, it is generally considered that administrative crime statistics is less accurate.

Not applicable - data are from administrative records.

Data from administrative records are likely to contain some random errors (mistakes) as well as systematic errors (bias).

 Data for the reference year 2020 was published in June 2022.

No delay in 2022.  

Comparability is affected by many factors, such as differences in:

• Legal system and criminal justice system
• Legislation, criminal law and legal definitions
• Organisation and efficiency of police, prosecution, courts and prisons
• Recording stage, input-,  process- or output data
• Recording system, reporting system, and production system
• Relation between national crime definition and international statistical definition
• Statistical unit and statistical population
• Statistical definition, reference time, counting methods and calculation methods
• Reporting rate for the crime

See the list of factors in 15.1. Changes in any of the factors can affect the comparability over time.

Not examined.

The internal coherence of the data is checked with basic validation rules (see section 18.4. Data validation). Figures for categories may not add up to the total, because information for some categories is missing.

For regional data (2008-2010) the data source or reference period may differ from national figures.

Not estimated.

Revisions to the data are possible at any time, but only based on new data received from national contact.

Revisions are incorporated into the database after being confirmed by national contact.

There are several different data producing sources, such as police, prosecution, courts , the ministry of the interior, the ministry of justice and prison administration.

The source data type is records in administrative registers.

Annual.

Since their data requests largely overlap, Eurostat cooperates with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.  Eurostat forward the United Nations request (Survey on Crime Trends), with the addition of the European Union request, to EU Member States, EFTA Countries, EU Candidate Countries, and EU Potential Candidates. In each country, figures from different authorities are collected into one file. The files are sent to Eurostat by a common procedure, the electronic Data file Administration and Management Information System.

The data are checked for completeness, internal consistency, and consistency over time and coherence with other relevant data sources. For internal consistency the following are checked:

- The sum of the subtotals (e.g. men and women) to the total.

- Large revisions (new figures for earlier years)

- Large variation between years

- Large change from previous to current reference year- Inconsistencies between data and metadata

Any issue revealed by the checking is pointed out to the national contact, by email. The national contact may either confirm the validity of data or send new data. No editing, estimation, imputation, weighting, seasonal adjustment, or other statistical modifications are carried out by Eurostat.

EU totals are published in the database only for: 

Intentional homicide and sexual offences by legal status and sex of the person involved - number and rate for the relevant sex group (crim_hom_soff) and Intentional homicide victims by victim-offender relationship and sex - number and rate for the relevant sex group (crim_hom_vrel).

No adjustments are made.

None.