Four out of 10 crimes were solved by the State Security Forces and Corps in the Balears from January to September

During the first nine months of 2023, a little more than 60,000 criminal offenses have been recorded; by typology, the most numerous are thefts, although they fall in comparison to the same period of 2022, as well as home thefts.

The crime rate in the Balearic Islands stands at 65.5 crimes per thousand inhabitants, according to the Ministry of the Interior’s balance sheet for the first nine months of the year. This indicator remains below the average values recorded before the pandemic; in 2020 i 2021 crime was reduced to rates of 51 i 52 crimes per thousand inhabitants, due to the effect of the confinements i of the mobility restrictions, while in 2019 this rate rose to 67.6 crimes per thousand inhabitants.

From January to September, 60,230 criminal offenses were recorded in the archipelago, in a period in which, in addition, the resolution indicator exceeded last year’s levels; 240 people were arrested and investigated for every thousand criminal offenses that occurred and about four out of 10 cases were clarified. Overall, the volume of criminal offenses in the archipelago rose by 1.9%, while in 2022 this increase exceeded 27% compared to the previous year.

By typology, theft is once again the most common crime in the islands, with 18,495 cases in the first nine months of 2023, compared to 19,969 recorded between January and September 2022. Burglaries in homes, establishments and other facilities are also down by around 10%, while 46 farm or livestock subtractions have been recorded, the same figure as last year. The other violations recorded different degrees of increase, especially those related to drug trafficking, which accounted for 616 police operations in the first nine months of the year, representing an increase of 26.5%. With regard to computer-related crime, reports of fraud have increased by 32%, while the rest of cybercrimes have decreased by 15% overall.

In this regard, data for the country as a whole reflect a similar trend, with an increase in computer scams and drug trafficking of around 23 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively. In Spain, until the third quarter, there were 5% more crimes than last year at this time, although in September 2022 crime had grown by more than 7% compared to 2021.

Rate per islands

By islands, the cumulative crime rate of the last twelve months is 65.4 crimes or misdemeanours per thousand inhabitants in Mallorca; 79.5 in Ibiza; 45.5 in Menorca and 56.1 in Formentera.

In Palma the crime rate is 83.2 cases per thousand inhabitants and, overall, the number of offences is reduced by 0.3%, compared to the first nine months of last year. Among the other municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants in the islands, the number of crimes fell in Calvià (10.7%), Sant Josep de sa Talaia (1.6%) and Santa Eulària des Riu (5.6%). The others – Alcúdia, Ciutadella, Ibiza, Inca, Llucmajor, Maó, Manacor, Marratxí and Sant Antoni de Portmany – experience an increase in the number of criminal offenses between January and September of this year, compared to the same period of 2022.

The Crime Report for each quarter published by the Ministry of the Interior shows the evolution in Spain of the criminal acts known to the National Police and the Civil Guard, the bodies that depend on the autonomous communities and the local police that provide their data to the statistical system. The report can be consulted at the following link: Quarterly crime balance.