Convictions of adults declined by 11% in 2020 in Switzerland, according to figures released by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. This is the steepest decline in many years.
In 2020 around 95 000 adult convictions were registered in the conviction register. This corresponds to a drop of 11% compared with the 2019 year. The greatest decline was seen for convictions under the Foreign National and Integration Act (-17%). Among the sentences imposed, a particularly marked reduction was observed in custodial sentences with a duration of more than two years (-27%).
Of the roughly 87,000 convictions for felonies and misdemeanours in 2020, the majority related to road offenses (55%), followed by crimes under the Swiss Criminal Code (35%), crimes that include violent crime, theft, fraud and damage to the state and property. A further 13% of convictions related to immigration and 5% to drug offences. 8% of the total were violent crimes.
The biggest drops in convictions were road and immigration offenses. These fell by 7,200 and 2,800, making up 81% of the total drop. These declines probably partly reflect lower mobility related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Federal Statistical Office report (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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