While violence tears through communities worldwide, with U.S. murders rising 6% to over 21,000 in 2022 and South Africa recording 27,494 killings, the global crime landscape reveals a complex and often contradictory picture of danger, from cybercrime's $10 billion in U.S. losses to a surprising drop in property offenses.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the U.S. reported 21,156 murders and non-negligent manslaughters, a 6% increase from 2021
- Globally, homicides totaled 458,000 in 2017, with a rate of 6.1 per 100,000 population
- In 2021, aggravated assaults in the U.S. numbered 911,405, up 4.5% from 2020
- U.S. burglary offenses: 539,936 in 2022, down 6.9% from 2021
- Global burglary rate: 227.9 per 100,000 in 2018 UNODC data
- U.S. larceny-theft: 4,472,046 incidents in 2022, down 2.2%
- U.S. drug possession arrests: 586,100 in 2022, down from prior years
- Global illicit drug use: 296 million users in 2021
- U.S. opioid overdose deaths: 81,806 in 2022
- U.S. cybercrime losses: $10.3 billion reported in 2023 IC3
- Global ransomware attacks: 493 million in 2023
- U.S. phishing incidents: 300,497 complaints in 2023 IC3
- U.S. embezzlement convictions: 10,000+ annually per USSC
- Global money laundering: $800 billion to $2 trillion annually
- U.S. securities fraud losses: $3.7 billion in 2022 SEC
Global crime statistics show both significant violence in some nations and complex patterns of theft, fraud, and drug crime worldwide.
Cybercrime
- U.S. cybercrime losses: $10.3 billion reported in 2023 IC3
- Global ransomware attacks: 493 million in 2023
- U.S. phishing incidents: 300,497 complaints in 2023 IC3
- Worldwide data breaches: 8,215 in 2023, affecting 4.8 billion records
- U.S. business email compromise losses: $2.9 billion in 2023
- EU cybercrime reports: 885,000 in 2022
- Global crypto theft: $3.7 billion in 2022 Chainalysis
- U.S. identity theft complaints: 1.1 million in 2023 IC3
- UK cybercrime cost: £27 billion annually to economy
- DDoS attacks worldwide: 15.4 million in 2023
- U.S. online scams: 298,878 elder fraud complaints $3.4B loss 2023
- China cybercrime arrests: 45,000 in 2022
- Global malware attacks: 5.5 billion blocked in 2023 Kaspersky
- U.S. ransomware victims: 2,243 in 2023 per Emsisoft
- India cybercrime FIRs: 65,893 in 2022
- Investment fraud losses U.S.: $3.9 billion in 2023 IC3
- Australia cybercrime victimization: 27% of businesses 2023
- Dark web listings for stolen data: 4.5 million in 2023
- U.S. tech support scams: $1.1 billion loss 2023 IC3
- Canada cybercrime losses: CAD 5.6 million avg per ransomware 2023
Cybercrime Interpretation
It turns out our digital age has crafted a devastatingly expensive plague where attackers find it laughably cheap to operate, while the rest of us are left footing the bill in both billions and broken trust.
Drug Offenses
- U.S. drug possession arrests: 586,100 in 2022, down from prior years
- Global illicit drug use: 296 million users in 2021
- U.S. opioid overdose deaths: 81,806 in 2022
- Mexico drug-related homicides: 30,000+ in 2022
- U.S. marijuana possession arrests: 227,000 in 2022
- Colombia cocaine production: 1,738 metric tons in 2022
- U.S. fentanyl seizures: 27,000 pounds at borders in FY2023
- Afghanistan opium production: 6,200 tons in 2022
- U.S. drug trafficking arrests: 18,000 in 2022
- Europe cannabis seizures: 1,500 tons in 2021
- U.S. synthetic drug overdose deaths: 36,000 in 2022 meth/cathinones
- Peru coca cultivation: 95,000 hectares in 2022
- U.S. prescription opioid misuse: 9.3 million past year in 2021 NSDUH
- Canada drug-related deaths: 7,328 in 2022
- U.S. heroin overdose deaths: 9,000 in 2022
- Myanmar meth seizures: 140 tons in 2022
- U.S. cocaine use disorder: 1.4 million in 2021
- Brazil drug trafficking arrests: 40,000 in 2022
- U.S. drug courts: 3,500+ handling 150,000 cases annually
- Global cocaine market value: $94 billion in 2021
Drug Offenses Interpretation
It seems our strategy of fighting a multi-billion dollar global addiction crisis by repeatedly arresting the same guy with a joint in his pocket is not yielding the world-altering results we were hoping for.
Property Crime
- U.S. burglary offenses: 539,936 in 2022, down 6.9% from 2021
- Global burglary rate: 227.9 per 100,000 in 2018 UNODC data
- U.S. larceny-theft: 4,472,046 incidents in 2022, down 2.2%
- England's burglary offenses: 235,000 in 2022/23
- U.S. motor vehicle thefts: 1,037,354 in 2022, up 8.4%
- Canada property crime rate: 2,496 per 100,000 in 2022
- U.S. residential burglaries: 62% of all burglaries in 2021 NCVS
- Australia's burglary victimization: 1.9% of households in 2021-22
- U.S. property crime rate: 1,954.4 per 100,000 in 2022, down 2.1%
- UK theft offenses: 600,000 in 2022
- U.S. shoplifting incidents: 1.6 million estimated in 2022 NRF survey
- Germany burglary rate: 127 per 100,000 in 2022
- U.S. household property victimization rate: 20.3 per 1,000 in 2021 NCVS
- France thefts: 829,000 in 2022
- U.S. commercial burglaries: 38% of burglaries per NCVS 2021
- Japan property crime rate: 1,200 per 100,000 in 2022
- U.S. bicycle thefts: over 800,000 annually estimated
- Italy burglary offenses: 166,000 in 2022
- U.S. arson incidents: 13,975 in 2022
- Netherlands property crime: 1.1 million registered in 2022
- U.S. personal larceny without contact: 2.5 million in 2021 NCVS
- Sweden theft rate: 7,500 per 100,000 in 2022
- U.S. catalytic converter thefts surged 1,200% in 2022
- Spain burglary rate: 45.2 per 1,000 households in 2022
- U.S. organized retail crime losses: $100 billion in 2023 estimate
Property Crime Interpretation
While burglary rates may be dropping globally, Americans are increasingly obsessed with stealing anything not nailed down—unless it's a car or a catalytic converter, in which case the nails don't seem to matter much.
Violent Crime
- In 2022, the U.S. reported 21,156 murders and non-negligent manslaughters, a 6% increase from 2021
- Globally, homicides totaled 458,000 in 2017, with a rate of 6.1 per 100,000 population
- In 2021, aggravated assaults in the U.S. numbered 911,405, up 4.5% from 2020
- England's homicide rate in 2022/23 was 9.7 per million population, with 590 homicides recorded
- U.S. robbery offenses dropped 1.8% in 2022 to 202,962 incidents
- In 2020, Brazil had 50,079 homicides, rate of 24.6 per 100,000
- U.S. forcible rape incidents in 2022: 133,294, revised definition, up 6.6%
- South Africa's murder rate in 2022/23: 45 per 100,000, with 27,494 killings
- U.S. violent crime rate fell 1.7% in 2022 to 363.8 per 100,000
- Mexico's homicide count in 2022: 33,315, rate 26.6 per 100,000
- U.S. simple assaults estimated at 2.9 million in 2021 per NCVS
- India's crime rate against women: 66.4 per lakh in 2022
- U.S. domestic violence incidents: 1.1 million in 2020 per CDC
- Russia's homicide rate 2022: 5.3 per 100,000
- U.S. gang-related homicides: 13% of total in 2021
- Venezuela's homicide rate 2022: 40.4 per 100,000
- U.S. youth violent crime victimization rate: 4.5 per 1,000 ages 12-17 in 2021
- Colombia homicides 2022: 12,748, rate 25.4 per 100,000
- U.S. mass shootings: 636 in 2022
- Jamaica murder rate 2022: 52.9 per 100,000
- U.S. stranger violence victimization: 25% of violent crimes in 2021 NCVS
- Honduras homicide rate 2022: 35.1 per 100,000
- U.S. firearm homicides: 20,138 in 2021
- El Salvador murders dropped to 154 in 2023 from 1,147 in 2021
- U.S. hate crime incidents: 11,634 in 2021
- Philippines homicide rate 2022: 5.3 per 100,000
- U.S. police use-of-force incidents leading to death: 1,176 in 2022
- Ecuador homicide rate 2023: 46.5 per 100,000
- U.S. sexual assault victimization rate: 1.2 per 1,000 persons age 12+ in 2021
Violent Crime Interpretation
The sobering ledger of human violence reveals a planet dotted with perilous hotspots, even as some nations show flickers of progress, reminding us that safety is a privilege as unevenly distributed as the crimes themselves.
White-Collar Crime
- U.S. embezzlement convictions: 10,000+ annually per USSC
- Global money laundering: $800 billion to $2 trillion annually
- U.S. securities fraud losses: $3.7 billion in 2022 SEC
- Corporate fraud cases: 569 prosecuted in FY2022 DOJ
- U.S. Ponzi schemes: $10 billion investor losses 2022-2023
- UK bribery offenses: 1,500 recorded in 2022
- U.S. tax fraud IRS audits: $31 billion recovered FY2022
- Insider trading cases SEC: 89 in FY2022
- Global corruption perceptions index avg score: 43/100 in 2022
- U.S. healthcare fraud: $60 billion annual losses
- Enron-style accounting fraud: 300+ cases post-2002 Sarbanes-Oxley
- U.S. wire fraud convictions: 1,200 in FY2022 USSC
- Russia money laundering schemes: $100 billion probed 2022
- U.S. mortgage fraud reports: 15,000 SARs in 2022 FinCEN
- China corruption cases: 50,000 prosecuted 2022 CCDI
- U.S. antitrust fines: $2.5 billion DOJ FY2022
- Pyramid schemes global losses: $15 billion yearly est.
- U.S. bank fraud losses: $1.2 billion 2022 FBI
- Nigeria advance fee fraud: $700 million losses U.S. 2022
White-Collar Crime Interpretation
While these scattered statistics of greed and graft represent the tip of the proverbial iceberg, they collectively paint a sobering portrait of a global economy where white-collar crime is not an anomaly but a persistent and costly industry operating in the shadow of legitimate commerce.
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