CrimeMalta Observatory annual crime review : year 2025

Abstract

With 34% of crimes occurring indoors, the need for individual awareness remains critical: from 4% indoor crime in 2004, such jumped to 15% in 2015 and 34% in 2025. Reported crimes in the Maltese Islands registered 15,594 crimes in 2025 against a population of 574,250 persons, decreasing by 6% over the year 2024, in turn a 6x decrease over the 2023-2024 1% decrease. In terms of crimes per 1000 persons, the total crime figures render the Islands even more safe where crimes declined from 46 crimes per 1000 persons in 2005 to 39 in 2015 to 27 in 2025, the lowest even (excluding covid 2020 which cannot be compared to due to its anomalous circumstance. As the population increased, the expected crime rates based on the 2005 and 2015 data were those of 26,419 and 22,113 respectively, the reported figure of 15,594 crimes is significantly lower than forecasted. As per previous years, homicides were solved in rapid turnarounds, such that all homicides that occurred from 2018 to 2025 were all solved within a few days. This category has dipped to a 0.9 per 100,000 persons in 2025 from one of 1.0 for 2005 and 1.7 in 2017 but slightly up from 0.7 in 2024. Theft has decreased significantly such that 2025 registered the lowest even number of thefts for decades such that from 5218 cases in 2024, it dropped by 790 cases to a record low of 4428 in 2025, even lower that the 2020-Covid year. As in previous years since 2007, domestic violence registered high but for the first time since 2019, it registered a decrease of 51 cases (2%). These are which are mainly due to psychological harm reports (76%) with increases in grievous harm and stalking. Increases were registered in breach of bail, cruelty to animals, drugs, environmental crime, perjury and false swearing, and prostitution. Significant decreases were registered for computer misuse, crimes against public peace, money laundering, and trafficking of persons. The RISC model depicts a situation where Mdina exhibited more than 5 times the national rate, whilst four localities, San Ġiljan, Valletta, Floriana and Marsa fell within the 2x to 5x category. This means that most localities now fall within the national rate and 51 localities fall within a slightly higher (1x to 2x) category.