Crime across the Czech Republic increased by more than 9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, according to the latest police statistics.
By March, a total of 51,282 crimes had been recorded across the country, up considerably on the 46,940 registered in the same period last year. While economic crimes such as fraud and drug-related crimes are down, violent crime including murder rose significantly.
In the first quarter of the year, Czech police recorded 47 murders or attempted murders, 12 more than in the same period last year. Authorities confirmed the majority of incidents, some 28 of the cases, involved domestic relationships.
The rise in reported murders and attempted murders is a concerning trend across Czechia. Last year, 150 cases were recorded in the country, up considerably on the 105 cases registered in 2021. In January, Czech Police President Martin Vondrášek attributed the increase to the noticeably higher social tension brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and the difficult economic climate.
Czech authorities also recorded a far higher number of property crimes in the first quarter of 2023 — such crimes include burglary, theft, and vandalism. A total of 27,261 cases of property crime were recorded by police up to the end of March, 4,089 more than the same period last year.
Moral crimes, however, have decreased by 81 to 946 cases so far this year, while economic crimes also fell by 282 to 3,979 cases.
Despite the rise in crime over the past two years, the total number of recorded cases remains lower than figures registered in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
