Has crime risen in france
Executive summary
Available data show mixed trends: France’s homicide rate rose from about 1.21 per 100,000 in 2020 to roughly 1.5 per 100,000 in 2023 according to a compiled overview (Wikipedia citing police figures) [1], while official departmental figures for many property crimes — for example burglaries — report a national decline of 2.26% in 2024 versus 2023 [2]. Public perception and specific local spikes (notably Marseille) complicate the picture: 14.7% of the population reported crime, violence or vandalism in their area in December 2023 (Eurostat via Trading Economics) [3].
1. Rising homicides but uneven across categories
Several sources indicate that intentional homicide in France edged upward in the early 2020s: a compiled summary shows 1.21 homicides per 100,000 in 2020, 1.3 in 2021, 1.4 in 2022 and 1.5 in 2023 [1]. Statista’s synthesis notes the intentional homicide rate was 1.14 per 100,000 in 2021 and that France ranked higher than some neighbours in 2022 [4]. Those figures show a modest rise in fatal violence even as other violent-crime measures vary [4].
2. Property crime and many offenses trending down in official counts
Government-published departmental statistics, summarised in reporting on the 2024 crime atlas, show the nationwide incidence of some offenses fell: mainland France overall recorded 0.10 victims per 1,000 inhabitants for the specific measure cited in 2024, a drop of 2.26% from 2023 — the report is drawn from the Interior Ministry’s departmental document [2]. Statista charts of police-recorded “violence against the person” also provide detailed year‑by‑year counts through 2023, underscoring that different offence types move in different directions [5] [6].
3. Localised crises change the national story — Marseille as a case study
Local surges skew national headlines. Reporting and compiled statistics highlight Marseille’s spike in lethal urban violence: in one bad year the city recorded 49 people shot dead and 118 wounded, producing a municipal murder rate of about 5.5 per 100,000 [1]. Drug‑related murders were unusually high in 2023 and contributed disproportionately to national totals; by 2024 drug‑related murders and attempted murders fell from 418 in 2023 to 367, blamed in part on the end of a gang war in Marseille [1].
4. Drug crime and trafficking pushing some violent categories up
Multiple sources single out increases in drug‑offence cases and trafficking as a recent pressure point. Statista notes the sharpest rises were for drug use and trafficking offences, which in turn generated violent incidents [4]. Macrotrends and homicide datasets corroborate volatility in violent crime that corresponds with organized‑crime dynamics in the south of France [7] [8].
5. Public perception and survey indicators diverge from recorded crime trends
Perception measures and user‑generated crime indexes show France’s public sometimes perceives sharp increases in local crime even where some recorded offences decline. Eurostat data reported by Trading Economics showed 14.7% of the population reported crime, violence or vandalism in their area in December 2023 [3]. Independent perception sites (Numbeo, ExploreCity) also record high perceived crime in some cities, but those are survey‑based and reflect sentiment rather than police counts [9] [10] [11].
6. Data caveats, sources and what is not covered
Official police and Interior Ministry datasets underpin much of the available reporting; Statista republishes ministry charts and the Interior Ministry’s departmental atlas provides granular maps and year‑on‑year changes [12] [2] [5]. Compilations such as Macrotrends and Wikipedia aggregate those numbers but may present slightly different baselines or years [1] [7]. Available sources do not mention some popular narratives — for example a definitive nationwide “crime wave” across all offence types — and show instead a mixed picture with rises in specific violent and drug‑related crimes alongside declines in other categories [2] [4].
7. Bottom line — nuanced reality, not a single trend
France’s crime landscape since 2020 is not a uniform rise or fall: homicides and drug‑related violence increased in several recent years and were concentrated in specific cities [1] [4], while some property crimes and department‑level indicators fell in 2024 [2]. Public concern remains elevated — reflected in Eurostat perception data — even as police counts show a complex, offence‑by‑offence pattern [3]. For a clear, current judgement you must examine offence‑specific Interior Ministry data by year and by department rather than rely on broad headlines [2].