Crime in Georgia in 2015: Property crime most prevalent

The number of crimes reported in Georgia is increasing.

Official statistics released today showed crimes against property was the most commonly reported crime in Georgia in 2015, followed by drug-related offences and crimes against another person’s health.

Data by Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) showed 35,096 crimes were recorded in Georgia in 2015, and of this 747 resulted in the death of a person.

Number of recorded crimes in 2015:

• Crimes against property – 12, 914;
• Drug-related offences – 5,126;
• Crimes against health – 4,446;
• Transport crime – 3,182;
• Crime against normal functioning of government – 2,413;
• Crimes against public security and order – 1,941;
• Crimes against life – 747;
• Malfeasance crime (resulting in the injury of another person) – 592;
• Crimes against human rights and freedoms – 495;
• Crimes against the family and minor -16; and
• Other Crimes – 3,224.

Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs registered 18 cases of human trafficking last year. Three of these cases are currently being investigated, said officials.

In 2014 there were five reported cases of human trafficking.

More road accidents in Georgia

The number of road traffic accidents increased in Georgia year-on-year (y/y).

Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs registered 6,432 road accidents in 2015. This was a 7.3 percent increase on the 5,992 crashes reported in 2014.

In 2015, 299 road accidents were caused by intoxicated drivers, said Geostat.

Last year more than 600 people died in accidents on Georgian roads. Furthermore, last year 9,187 people were injured in a road accident and 602 people died.

To compare 8,536 people were injured in car accidents in 2014 while 511 were killed.

Record number of fires in 2015

Annual figures showed the number of fires in Georgia had slowly increased in recent years, resulting in 2015 showing a record number of fires since 2001.

Last year there were 14,440 fires in Georgia, killing 67 people and injuring 179 others. Furthermore, 525 buildings and structures were damaged and 160 domestic animals were killed by fire.

To compare, 11,082 fires were registered in 2014, while in 2013 this figure was 9,025. In 2012 there were 10,086 fires and in 2011 there were 8,160 fires.

Between 2003 and 2012 the number of fires ranged between 4,418 and 10,006. While in 2002 the least number of fires (4,159) was recorded.

Domestic violence in Georgia

The number of victims of domestic violence in Georgia has increased dramatically in the past 12 months, and correspondingly, the number of perpetrators has also increased.

Geostat figures showed in 2015 there were 2,638 victims of domestic violence and 2,468 perpetrators.

This was sharp increase from 2014, where the Ministry of Internal Affairs registered 829 victims and 750 perpetrators.

Most of the victims and offenders were aged between 25 and 44 years.

Victims of crime

Thousands of people in Georgia were victims of criminal offences last year.

Geostat data showed the total number of victims of criminal offences in Georgia had increased slightly since previous data was collected in 2011.

Last year 12,308 people were victims of criminal offences. Of this 7,246 were men and 5,062 were women. To compare in 2011 there were 12,140 victims of crime in Georgia.

The majority of victims were aged between 25 and 44 – in this age category there were 5,406 victims of criminal offence in 2015.

Similarly, 4,576 victims were older than 44; 1, 768 victims were between 17 and 24 years old; and 557 victims were less than 17 years old.

From the total number of victims, 11,709 were Georgian citizens, 581 were foreigners, 11 had dual citizenship, six were stateless and one was not specified.