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Crime · Germany · Updated 2026-10-26

What share of crime suspects in Germany are not German citizens?

In 2025, 40.08% of the 2,054,855 crime suspects registered by German police were not German citizens, or 35.52% when offences against immigration law are left out; foreign citizens made up 40.78% of people convicted by German courts in 2024 and 14.89% of the population at the end of 2025.

Every figure in this summary is calculated from the sources listed on this page.

Non-German share of crime suspects, 2025

Suspects without German citizenship as a share of all crime suspects registered by police. Germany (police crime statistics, offences committed in Germany), Cases passed to prosecutors in calendar year 2025. Unit: % of suspects.

40.08% of suspects, 2025

71Trust scoreModerate certainty

Only one source – not confirmed by others. Agreement can't be measured, so the score can't reach High.

Score breakdown

Quality40 / 40

How well the sources are made

Agreement15 / 30

Unknown with one source, so set to half

Independence6 / 20

How many separate ways the number was measured

Freshness10 / 10

How recent the newest data is

How much each source counts

  • BKA PKS100%

Sources

SourceValueDefinitionQualityWeight
BKA, Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2025, table T61 (Bund)Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) · Police and justice recordsRetrieved 2026-10-2640.082025
Suspects without German citizenship (foreign nationals, stateless people and people whose citizenship is unknown) as a share of all suspects.

People holding German and another citizenship count as German. Each suspect is counted once per year (echte Tatverdächtigenzählung). BKA table T61, row "------ Straftaten insgesamt", both sexes: 823,609 of 2,054,855 suspects.

The table's own share column gives 40.08%; the BKA report rounds it to 40.1% (p. 45). Includes offences against the Residence Act, Asylum Act and FreizügG/EU, which almost only people without German citizenship can commit. Other BKA suspect tables: https://www.bka.de/DE/AktuelleInformationen/StatistikenLagebilder/PolizeilicheKriminalstatistik/PKS2025/pksTabellen_Interpretationshilfen/BundTVNationalitaet/bundTVNationalitaet.html

5 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. The BKA publishes its recording rules, table descriptions and definitions (Tabellenbeschreibung 2025, report glossary).
  • Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official police statistics compiled by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
  • Yes: Full count or representative sample. Counts every suspect in cases police passed to prosecutors in 2025, each person once; only crime known to police.
  • Yes: Raw data downloadable. Table T61 with counts and the share by offence key is downloadable as XLSX.
  • Yes: No known break or quality problem. No break within 2025; the BKA says 2025 is not directly comparable with 2024 because cannabis offences changed on 1 April 2024.
100%

Non-German share of crime suspects, excluding immigration offences, 2025

Suspects without German citizenship as a share of all suspects, leaving out offences against the Residence Act, Asylum Act and FreizügG/EU. Germany (police crime statistics, offences committed in Germany), Cases passed to prosecutors in calendar year 2025. Unit: % of suspects.

35.52% of suspects, 2025

71Trust scoreModerate certainty

Only one source – not confirmed by others. Agreement can't be measured, so the score can't reach High.

Score breakdown

Quality40 / 40

How well the sources are made

Agreement15 / 30

Unknown with one source, so set to half

Independence6 / 20

How many separate ways the number was measured

Freshness10 / 10

How recent the newest data is

How much each source counts

  • BKA PKS100%

Shown but not counted: Mediendienst (republishes BKA, Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2025, table T61 (Bund), key 890000).

Sources

SourceValueDefinitionQualityWeight
BKA, Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2025, table T61 (Bund), key 890000Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) · Police and justice recordsRetrieved 2026-10-2635.522025
Suspects without German citizenship (foreign nationals, stateless people and people whose citizenship is unknown) as a share of all suspects.

People holding German and another citizenship count as German. Each suspect is counted once per year (echte Tatverdächtigenzählung). BKA table T61, row "890000 Straftaten insgesamt, jedoch ohne Verstöße gegen das Aufenthalts-, das Asyl- und das Freizügigkeitsgesetz/EU (Schlüssel 725000)", both sexes: 677,951 of 1,908,383 suspects.

The BKA publishes this adjusted total itself (key 890000), so nothing is recomputed; the table's share column gives 35.52%, the BKA report 35.5% (p. 46). Immigration-law offences (key 725000) cover unlawful entry and stay, which almost only non-citizens can commit, and smuggling of foreigners, which anyone can commit.

5 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. The BKA publishes its recording rules, table descriptions and definitions (Tabellenbeschreibung 2025, report glossary).
  • Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official police statistics compiled by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
  • Yes: Full count or representative sample. Counts every suspect in cases police passed to prosecutors in 2025, each person once; only crime known to police.
  • Yes: Raw data downloadable. Table T61 with counts and the share by offence key is downloadable as XLSX.
  • Yes: No known break or quality problem. No break within 2025; the BKA says 2025 is not directly comparable with 2024 because cannabis offences changed on 1 April 2024.
100%
Mediendienst Integration, "Ausländer in der Kriminalstatistik überrepräsentiert"Mediendienst Integration · Independent countRetrieved 2026-10-2635.52025
Non-German suspects divided by all suspects, excluding immigration-law offences, calculated from the BKA's PKS 2025 (677,951 of 1,908,383).

A recalculation of the BKA line, not a separate data collection, so it carries no weight in the score.

3 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. States its calculation and cites the pages of the BKA report it used.
  • No: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. A media information service, not official statistics or peer-reviewed.
  • Yes: Full count or representative sample. Recalculates the BKA's full count of suspects.
  • No: Raw data downloadable. Publishes no data file of its own; the BKA tables it uses are downloadable.
  • Yes: No known break or quality problem. Its counts match BKA table T61 exactly.
Not counted

Non-German share of people convicted, 2024

People without German citizenship as a share of all people convicted by criminal courts. Germany (criminal courts), Final convictions in calendar year 2024. Unit: % of convicted people.

40.78% of convicted people, 2024

63Trust scoreModerate certainty

Only one source – not confirmed by others. Agreement can't be measured, so the score can't reach High.

Score breakdown

Quality32 / 40

How well the sources are made

Agreement15 / 30

Unknown with one source, so set to half

Independence6 / 20

How many separate ways the number was measured

Freshness10 / 10

How recent the newest data is

How much each source counts

  • Destatis100%

Sources

SourceValueDefinitionQualityWeight
Destatis, Statistischer Bericht Strafverfolgung 2024, tables 24311-45 and 24311-47Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) · Police and justice recordsRetrieved 2026-10-2640.782024
People convicted with final effect by German criminal courts in 2024 who do not hold German citizenship (including stateless people), as a share of all convicted people: 257,804 of 632,115.

A person is counted once per proceeding, under the offence with the heaviest penalty; someone convicted in two proceedings is counted twice. Includes road-traffic offences.

Without the 9,845 convictions under the Residence Act, Asylum Act and FreizügG/EU (9,644 of them foreign citizens) the share is 39.88%; without road-traffic offences, which the PKS largely leaves out, it is 41.42%. Both calculated in this page's script from tables 24311-45 and 24311-47. Report published 21 November 2025; cannabis figure from Destatis press release 452 (https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2025/12/PD25_452_24311.html).

4 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. Destatis publishes the counting rules and a quality description with the report.
  • Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official statistics compiled by Destatis from the statistical offices of the 16 states.
  • Yes: Full count or representative sample. Full count of final decisions reported by all prosecution and youth court offices; no sampling.
  • Yes: Raw data downloadable. The report is downloadable as XLSX, including machine-readable sheets.
  • No: No known break or quality problem. Cannabis was partly legalised on 1 April 2024; Destatis reports drug-law convictions fell 37% that year, which changes the mix of offences counted.
100%

Non-German share of the population, 2025

Residents without German citizenship as a share of the registered population. Germany, 31 December 2025. Unit: % of population.

14.89% of population, 2025

71Trust scoreModerate certainty

Only one source – not confirmed by others. Agreement can't be measured, so the score can't reach High.

Score breakdown

Quality40 / 40

How well the sources are made

Agreement15 / 30

Unknown with one source, so set to half

Independence6 / 20

How many separate ways the number was measured

Freshness10 / 10

How recent the newest data is

How much each source counts

  • Destatis100%

Sources

SourceValueDefinitionQualityWeight
Destatis, Bevölkerungsfortschreibung (Zensus 2022 basis): population by citizenshipStatistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) · Population registerRetrieved 2026-10-2614.892025
Residents without German citizenship (including stateless people and people with unclear citizenship) as a share of the population registered in Germany on 31 December 2025: 12,430,895 of 83,467,117.

People holding German and another citizenship count as German.

Why this source: Destatis advises using the population count, not the Central Register of Foreigners, when comparing foreign citizens with the German or total population (https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Bevoelkerung/Bevoelkerungsstand/Methoden/Erlauterungen/auslaendische-bevoelkerung.html); it is also the population the BKA divides by for its suspect rates. The count is built from the census plus civil-registry births and deaths and residence registrations. On 31 December 2024 the share was 14.83%. Destatis rounds the 2025 share to 14.9% in its table "Bevölkerung nach dem Gebietsstand".

5 of 5 checks
  • Yes: Method and definitions published. Destatis publishes the method and a quality report for the population count.
  • Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official statistics from Germany's federal statistics office.
  • Yes: Full count or representative sample. Full count: the Zensus 2022 updated with every registered birth, death, move and change of citizenship.
  • Yes: Raw data downloadable. Annual figures by citizenship and sex are published as a table on destatis.de.
  • Yes: No known break or quality problem. No break since the switch to the Zensus 2022 basis in 2022; Destatis notes accuracy declines as the census ages.
100%

Why the numbers differ

  • The police statistics count suspects when a case goes to prosecutors; a suspect may never be charged or convicted. The court statistics count people convicted with final effect, once per proceeding under the most serious offence, cover 2024 rather than 2025, and include road-traffic offences that the police statistics largely leave out. Without road-traffic offences, foreign citizens were 41.42% of people convicted in 2024. (source, retrieved 2026-10-26)
  • Suspects include people who do not live in Germany, such as tourists and people passing through, and people staying without permission; the population count includes only registered residents. Of all 823,609 non-German suspects in 2025, 17.00% lived outside Germany and 17.19% had no fixed or no known address; leaving out immigration offences, the figures are 9.55% and 14.75% (BKA table T29). 154,347 non-German suspects were recorded as staying unlawfully, 23,923 of them outside immigration offences (table T61). The tables do not show tourists separately. (source, retrieved 2026-10-26)
  • Age and sex structure differ. Among residents aged 8 and over on 31 December 2024, 43.50% of non-Germans but 25.59% of Germans were aged 18 to 39, and 52.40% of non-Germans but 48.64% of Germans were male (Destatis figures in the BKA's population tables for its suspect rates). In both groups the BKA's suspect rates are highest for males aged 14 to 17 (BKA report, p. 49); 76.95% of non-German suspects in 2025 were male (table T61). (source, retrieved 2026-10-26)
  • The police statistics as a rule include only crime reported to the police. The victimisation survey of the BKA and the state police forces, "Sicherheit und Kriminalität in Deutschland 2024", estimates that about 56% of residential burglaries, 29.1% of assaults and 6.2% of sexual offences experienced in Germany came to police notice (p. 45). The survey reports reporting rates by offence and by the victim's background, not by the suspected offender's citizenship. (source, retrieved 2026-10-26)
  • People holding German and another citizenship are counted as German in the police statistics (BKA report, p. 72), the court statistics and the population count. The Mikrozensus 2025 first results put the number of such dual citizens in private households at 3,612,000. The police statistics record citizenship only, not migration background (BKA report, p. 7). (source, retrieved 2026-10-26)

Common mistakes

  • Comparing the 40.08% share of suspects with the population share without noting that it includes immigration-law offences, which almost only non-citizens can commit (35.52% without them). (source, retrieved 2026-10-26)
  • Treating suspects as offenders. The police statistics record suspects at the end of police investigations, before any court decision. (source, retrieved 2026-10-26)
  • Reading "non-German" as "migrant" or "with a migration background". Naturalised citizens and dual citizens are counted as German. (source, retrieved 2026-10-26)