Website: Statistics: Crime and criminal justice

Statistical data on crime and criminal justice are important because of:
- the political and social importance of crime
- public concern about crime

Providing data on crime in the EU is complicated by considerable differences in the methods and definitions used in the Member States. This should be taken into account when using statistical figures.

Comparisons of crime levels based on the absolute figures would be misleading, since they are affected by many factors including:
- different legal and criminal justice systems
- rates at which crimes are reported to the police and recorded by them
- differences in the point at which crime is measured (for example, report to the police, identification of suspect, etc.)
- differences in the rules by which multiple offences are counted
- differences in the list of offences that are included in the overall crime figures.

As a general rule, comparisons should be based upon trends rather than upon levels, on the assumption that the characteristics of the recording system within a country remain fairly constant over time. Where national series without definitional changes are available, general trends have been estimated.

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