The number of sexual crimes in Berlin surged last year, according to local government data. The report also highlights that a large portion of these crimes could have been prevented.

Authorities revealed that data gathered from a previously unpublished Berlin State government report found that

in 2024, a total of 7,475 crimes occurred, or an average of more than 20 a day, an increase of 79 percent on 2023,

– according to the Brussels Signal news site.

Foreign nationals were disproportionally implicated in such crimes, with some 38 percent of all recorded incidents believed to have been perpetrated by a non-German national. In terms of proportions, the city’s foreign population makes up 27.5 percent.

The percentage of suspected foreign perpetrators was higher in some areas. Of the two rapes on average that took place in the city each day, half were suspected to have been committed by a foreign national. The data implied that 75 percent of all cases of serious sexual coercion, as well as group sexual coercion, were also believed to have beenn committed by non-Germans.

For cases of sexual assault on those deemed too vulnerable to be able to resist or protect themselves, around half of all incidents were reportedly committed by foreign individuals.

Antonin Brousek, a former judge turned-Berlin State representative who penned the report, was also said to have claimed in the previously unpublished document that many of these crimes would have been avoided entirely if German immigration law was “properly enforced”.

„A large proportion of these crimes could have been avoided, if only those who were authorised to do so were in Berlin,”

– the official said.