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Italy’s 2024 Crime Data Show Modest Rise in Thefts as Big Cities Drive Complaints

Experts attribute the uptick to big-city inflows of commuters and tourists, with theft levels still well below 2014.

Overview

  • Thefts accounted for 44% of reported crimes in 2024, increasing 3% year over year.
  • Category gains were led by burglaries (+4.9%), car thefts (+2.3%), snatchings (+1.7%) and pickpocketing (+0.6%).
  • Street-related offences also rose, including robberies (+1.8%), drug crimes (+3.9%) and sexual violence (+7.5%), with intentional injuries up 5.8% and damage offences up 1.6%.
  • Crime is concentrating in metropolitan areas, which registered 47.9% of offences, with Milan, Rome and Florence together at 23.5% and divergent local trends such as a slight dip in Milan and increases in Rome and Florence.
  • Despite the annual upticks, thefts are down 33% versus 2014, while contraband fell 38%, arson 5.3% and online fraud 6.5% in 2024, and analysts note scarce victimization surveys make changes in reporting hard to parse.