One in three Catalans say they were victims of crime in 2022
Increased fraud is primary cause of rise in crime
The latest Public Security Survey of Catalonia (ESPC) has revealed an increase of reported crime among Catalans, with 32.4% of people claiming to have been victims of a criminal activity in 2022.
The figure marks a significant increase of 5 points compared to the previous year, indicating an upward trend in crime rates.
Catalonia's Interior Minister, Joan Ignasi Elena, presented the results of the survey on Tuesday, pointing to an increase in fraud as the main reason for the overall rise in crime.
"There has been a very noticeable increase in fraud related to cybercrime," Elena said, stressing that reducing online fraud is a top priority for Catalan police Mossos d'Esquadra.
Fraud is now the most common criminal activity, with 17.6% of respondents saying they were victims of fraud schemes in the past year - up nearly 4 points from 13.8% in 2020.
Fraud and scams together account for 33.9% of all reported crimes. The most common is unauthorized credit card charges (32.2%) and unauthorized purchases of products or services (31.4%). Of the latter fraud, 69% were committed online, 14.6% in person and 14.4% over the phone. Alarmingly, only 40% of victims reported recovering some or all of the money lost.
Other commonly reported types of crime include personal theft (8.7%), vehicle theft (6.7%), physical assault or threat (4.8%), home invasion (3%), business-related crime (1.2%) and incidents involving second homes (0.8%).
The survey also unveiled that only 25.2% of criminal incidents are reported and that men are more likely to experience criminal acts. Individuals aged 16 to 25 reported higher incidents of assaults and robberies, while those over 65 experienced the least crime overall.
Despite the rise in crime victimization, the Mossos d'Esquadra received a rating of 7.5 out of 10 points, an increase of 0.2 points from the previous survey. Elena highlighted this score as the second highest in the survey's history, dating back to 1999. However, 28% of respondents believe that the police need to improve their treatment and attitude towards citizens.