Quarter of crime suspects in Netherlands younger than 23

Over a quarter of the 150,000 registered suspects of crimes in 2023 were younger than 23 years old, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Tuesday. “The number of young suspects decreased between 2010 and 2018 but has remained stable in recent years,” the statistics office said.

Last year, the police arrested 150,000 unique people as suspects of the 800,000 crimes registered in 2023. Two in three suspects already had a criminal record. The number of suspects is slightly lower than in 2022 when the police arrested 156,000 unique suspects and well below 2010’s 272,000 suspects.

Young adults are most often suspected of a crime at 178 suspects per 10,000 Netherlands residents aged 18 to 23. “The number of young suspects has also decreased the most since 2010,” CBS said. Minors are also suspected of crimes relatively often at 138 suspects per 10,000 minors.

The number of suspects of violent crimes and vandalism/crimes against public order has more than halved since 2010, -57 percent and -53 percent, respectively. Among young people, 12 to 23 years old, the decline in violent crime suspects was even more substantial at -64 percent. The number of vandalism/public order crime suspects in this age group dropped by 68 percent in 2023 compared to 2010.

Education level and income strongly influence whether someone turns to crime. People whose highest qualification is secondary special education are over seven times more likely to be suspected of a crime than average. People with a practical education as their highest qualification are six times more likely to be suspects. People living in households below the low-income limit are more than three times as likely to be suspected of a crime.