New data shows that knife crime jumped 30 percent in one year in Germany and that more than half of the suspects are foreigners.
In response to an Alternative for Germany (AfD) request, the federal Interior Ministry released data showing that there were 1,160 knife attacks in Germany in 2023, which is up from 882 in 2022. Another 48 percent of suspects have German citizenship. It should be noted that it is unclear if the suspects listed as “German” have a migration background, as all Germans with citizenship are listed as “Germans” in the crime statistics even if they have roots in other countries.
The AfD responded to the new data with an official statement:
“We have always said it and are saying it now: If you want to protect our citizens from knife violence, you must end the cult of migration, protect national borders, and consistently deport them. A traffic light government that rolls out the red carpet for every illegal immigrant with a ‘right to stay’ and systematically prevents deportations is doing the exact opposite. The price of this irresponsible ideological ignorance is paid by people who are no longer safe on the way home from work or even on the way to school.
The party says that foreign criminals must be deported and those without a sufficient asylum claim sent back to their country.
“These facts clearly refute the whitewashing of mass migration: The number of knife crimes in our country rose by a whopping 30 percent last year compared to the previous year. A majority of the perpetrators (51 percent) are foreigners. And the country of origin with the most knife criminals is Syria,” continued the AfD’s statement.
The knife crime data sharply contrasts with previous statistics showing that there were more than 20,000 knife attacks in Germany in 2020. This difference in numbers could be related to how knife crime is now classified, including crimes involving a knife and crimes where a victim was actually stabbed.
