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Published: 2 April 2012

Eleven per cent of suspects of offences were foreign citizens in 2011

According to data published by Statistics Finland, the number of persons suspected of the offences solved in 2011 by the police, customs and border guard was 303,000, of whom 35,000 were citizens of foreign countries. Compared with the previous year, the number of all suspects remained nearly unchanged, while the number of foreign citizens suspected increased by nearly three per cent. Over the past ten years, the number of foreign suspects has been 22,000, on average. In 2011 Estonians made up the biggest group of foreign suspects, numbering 9,100. Suspects were citizens of 148 different countries.

Foreign citizens suspected of offences by place of residence in 2009-2011

Among the offences solved in 2011, 43 per cent of the suspected foreign citizens were living permanently in Finland. The respective proportion has remained almost unchanged over the past year. Foreign suspects living in Finland were slightly younger than Finnish suspects were. Their average age was 30 years, while that of Finnish suspects was 32 years. Typical offences by foreigners living in Finland were theft, assault and drunken driving offences.

In the statistics the same person can be a suspect several times. Data on the nationality of suspects and on whether they are permanently resident in Finland or not are based on the nationality data derived from the police and those selected by means of the personal identity code from the population data. The group 'no permanent place of residence in Finland' is in that sense problematic, because it may include persons staying longer periods in Finland without applying for a permanent place of residence here. The group may also include persons suspected of a narcotics offence, for example, who have come to Finland only for the purpose of committing a crime.

Suspects of solved offences living in Finland by age and nationality in 2011

Age groups	Suspects living permanently in Finland		Share per 1,000 population in the age group
	Finnish residents	Foreign citizens	Finnish residents	Foreign citizens
Total	264 726	14 991	51	82
–14	11 494	600	13	22
15–17	23 234	891	124	184
18–20	31 270	1 325	159	225
21–24	33 475	2 313	132	182
25–29	39 238	2 772	123	110
30–34	31 857	2 308	101	90
35–39	23 448	1 767	78	85
40–49	37 909	2 172	55	72
50–59	22 127	666	30	38
60–69	8 438	138	12	19
70–	2 236	39	3	7

In 2011, a total of 458,000 offences were recorded by the police, customs and border guard. The number was 27,000 higher than one year previously. In addition, 505,000 cases of endangerment of traffic safety and traffic offences were recorded, which is of the same magnitude as in the previous year.

The presentation of the statistics was revised as of the beginning of 2009. Endangerment of traffic safety and traffic offences are separated from other offences and they are presented in a separate table. The total number of offences is comparable with earlier figures, because the same division has also been made retrospectively until 1980. The aim of the revision is to improve the comparability of offences between different years and enhance their international comparability. The quality description of the statistics contains annually more detailed information about revisions but it is regrettably only published in Finnish.

From the beginning of 2009, included are also offences recorded by the customs and border guard. The change has not much effect on the comparability of offences. Of the most common types of offences the change primarily affects the comparability of narcotics offences.

Source: Offences known to the police 2011. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Jorma Kallio 09 1734 3248, Marja Kivimäki 09 1734 3252, rikos@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Publication in pdf-format (16 pages 369.6 kB)

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• 1. Review on offences recorded by the police, customs and border guard (2.4.2012)

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Development of certain types of offences in 2007-2011 (2.4.2012)
• Appendix table 2. Development of endangerment of traffic safety and number of traffic infractions in 2007-2011 (2.4.2012)
• Appendix table 3. Municipal parking supervision 2011 (2.4.2012)
• Appendix table 4. Persons suspected of offences by nationality in 2007-2011 (2.4.2012)

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Updated 2.4.2012