Modern trends of world crime

Abstract

The article describes the spread of crime and its specific classes in the world and in the regions. It is established that in most countries there is a steady tendency to decrease relative crime rates, first of all, violent crime rates. Over the past 25 years, the homicide rates in the world have been gradually decreasing. At the same time, absolute figures for the number of victims of these crimes are on the rise. According to the UN, the intentional homicide rates in Asia in 2017 are the lowest in the world (2.3 per 100,000 population), the highest rate are in South America (25). In the EU Member States from 2008 to 2017, the number of motor vehicle thefts and assaults has decreased significantly. Although the number of crimes is decreasing, the world community has faced a new configuration of crime. Cybercrime, organized crime, including drug trafficking, is on the rise. These crimes are, for the most part, transnational. In Ukraine, the crime rate increased from 780 per 100,000 populations in 1991 to 1054 in 2019. The absolute number of reported crimes in Ukraine in 1991 was 405,516, in 2019 – 444,130. Ukraine's rate of intentional homicide per 100,000 population decreases: 2014 – 10.8, 2015 – 7.5; 2016 – 4.3; 2017 – 3.8; 2018 – 3.6; 2019 – 3.5.The increase in homicide rates in 2014-2015 is related to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and the large number of people killed in the hostilities. The perception of crime depends largely on media coverage of the issue. Public opinion polls show that respondents believe that crime in the country is increasing at the national level even when official data and victim surveys indicate that it is decreasing. In many countries around the world, official reporting is compared to alternative sources of crime information, including National victimization surveys. Representative victim surveys should be conducted at a national level to verify and supplement official report in Ukraine.