Home > Statistics > Offences known to the police > 2013 > Of persons with Finnish background, 1.8 per cent and of persons with foreign background, 3.5 per cent were suspected of offences

Published: 2 April 2014

Of persons with Finnish background, 1.8 per cent and of persons with foreign background, 3.5 per cent were suspected of offences

Correction 2.4.2014: Three figures have been corrected in the first paragraph. The corrected figures have been marked in red. In addition, appendix tables and appendix figures have been added to the html version.

In 2013, a total of 424,800 offences were recorded by the police, customs and border guard in the whole country, which is 640 offences ( 0.2 per cent) fewer than one year before. In all, 276,400 persons were suspected of the 246,000 offences solved in 2013. The number is 7,200 (2.5 per cent) lower than one year previously. Suspects with Finnish background numbered 18.1 per 1,000 persons in the population group. The corresponding figure for persons with foreign background was 35.4.

Persons suspected by origin, share per 1,000 population

Suspects born in Finland with Finnish background numbered 17.9 per 1,000 population with the same origin. In turn, the figure for foreign-born suspects with Finnish background was 39.7. The share of Finnish-born suspects with foreign background per 1,000 population was 17.8. For foreign-born suspects with foreign background, this figure was 38.4.

Persons suspect of offences by origin and share per 1,000 population 2013

Origin	Suspected	Share per 1,000 population
Origin total	103,158	19.0
Person with Finnish background total	93,262	18.1
Person with Finnish background born in Finland	91,386	17.9
Person with Finnish background born abroad	1,876	39.7
Person with foreign background total	9,896	35.4
Person with foreign background born in Finland	737	17.8
Person with foreign background born abroad	9,159	38.4

In the review, included are persons belonging to the registered population, that is, people with a Finnish personal identity code. A person whose one or both parents were born in Finland is counted as having Finnish background. A person has foreign background if his or her both parents were born abroad. Good one-half of foreign-born persons with Finnish background were born in Sweden. The higher share of suspects with foreign background is partly explained by that persons with foreign background include more younger age groups and men compared with persons with Finnish background. In all, 64.4 per cent of those with foreign background and 46.4 per cent of those with Finnish background are aged under 40.

Of persons suspected of offences, 93,300 (88.7 per cent) were of Finnish background. There were 9,900 suspects with foreign background (9.4 per cent). In the whole population, 94.8 per cent are of Finnish background and 5.2 per cent of foreign background. Of suspects with Finnish background, 1,900 (two per cent) had been born abroad. Of suspects with foreign background, 92.1 per cent had been born abroad. In turn, the figure for Finnish-born suspects with foreign background was 7.4 per cent. Of all suspects, 2,200 (2.1 per cent) were such that their origin was not known although they had a Finnish personal identity code. Typically such persons have moved away from Finland.

More details about the origin of suspects by age group and sex is available in the appendix table. The figures are calculated so that one person is a suspect only one time. The figures calculated here differ from the figures presented elsewhere in this publication where the same person can be a suspect several times during a year.

The presentation of the statistics was revised as of the beginning of 2009. Endangerment of traffic safety and traffic infractions 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 more detailed information about revisions but it is regrettably published only in Finnish.

From the beginning of 2009, offences recorded by the customs and border guard are also included. The change does not have 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 2013. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Kimmo Haapakangas 09 1734 3252, rikos@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

Publication in pdf-format (30 pages 715.1 kB)

Reviews

• 1. Review on offences recorded by the police, customs and border guard (2.4.2014)

Tables

Tables in databases

Pick the data you need into tables, view the data as graphs, or download the data for your use.

• Database tables and their variables
• Archived tables

Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Development of certain types of offences in 2009 - 2013 (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 2. Development of endangerment of traffic safety and number of traffic infractions in 2009 - 2013 (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 3. Persons suspected of offences by nationality in 2009 - 2013 (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 4. Persons suspected of offences and the entire population by income subject to state taxation, aged 15 and over 1) (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 5. Persons suspected of offences and the entire population by socio-economic group, aged 15 and over 1) (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 6. Persons suspected of offences and the entire population by main activity, aged 15 and over 1) (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 7. Persons suspected of offences and the entire population by level of education, aged 15 and over 1) (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 8. Persons suspect of offences by origin, age group and sex and the share of suspects in the population in 2013 (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 9. Municipal parking supervision in 2013, parking fines (2.4.2014)
• Appendix table 10. Municipal parking supervision in 2013, other parking inspector activity (2.4.2014)

Figures

• Appendix figure 1. Persons suspected of offences and the entire population by level of education, aged 15 and over (2.4.2014)
• Appendix figure 2. Persons suspected of offences and the entire population by socio-economic group, aged 15 and over (2.4.2014)

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Updated 2.4.2014