In 2021, 19.6% of the population aged 15 and over in Belgium reported that they or a member of their family had been the victim of a burglary or assault in the last five years. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must decrease. Between 2002 and 2021, the trend is favourable (assessment of November 2023).
Victims of burglary or assault - Belgium and international comparison
percentage of population aged 15 and over
2002 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2021 | 2021//2002 | 2021//2016 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belgium | 26.9 | 22.4 | 21.5 | 23.1 | 20.3 | 22.9 | 19.6 | -1.6 | -0.7 |
Germany | 8.7 | 9.2 | 11.3 | 11.4 | 12.7 | 11.5 | -- | -- | -- |
France | 28.5 | 21.8 | 21.8 | 23.2 | 22.4 | 21.2 | 17.2 | -2.6 | -5.2 |
Netherlands | 20.7 | 18.4 | 18.3 | 20.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 11.5 | -3.0 | -6.2 |
//: Average Growth Rates |
ESS (2023), Dataset European Social Survey, http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/ (consulted on 18/10/2023); calculations FPB.
Victims of burglary or assault by income - Belgium
percentage of population aged 15 and over
2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2021 | 2021//2010 | 2021//2016 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
quintile 1 | 21.0 | 20.7 | 25.3 | 15.9 | 23.2 | 18.1 | -1.4 | 2.6 |
quintile 2 | 21.8 | 16.8 | 21.5 | 19.0 | 24.5 | 21.3 | -0.2 | 2.3 |
quintile 3 | 21.1 | 20.9 | 20.8 | 21.7 | 20.3 | 14.2 | -3.5 | -8.1 |
quintile 4 | 21.8 | 25.1 | 24.6 | 19.0 | 21.9 | 20.5 | -0.6 | 1.5 |
quintile 5 | 25.0 | 26.4 | 26.3 | 27.7 | 27.4 | 24.7 | -0.1 | -2.2 |
//: Average Growth Rates |
ESS (2023), Dataset European Social Survey, http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/ (consulted on 18/10/2023); calculations FPB.
Definition: the victims of burglary or assault corresponds to the share of respondents to the European Social Survey (ESS) that answered ‘yes’ to the following question: “Have you or a member of your household been the victim of a burglary or assault in the last 5 years?”. This question was asked in each of the ten biennial ESS surveys. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the survey for 2020 was postponed to 2021. The FPB calculates the indicator using the ESS data. Since these data are based on surveys, a margin of uncertainty must be taken into account. The confidence intervals for these data are available on request.
Goal: the share of respondents who have themselves or a family member been the victim of a burglary of assault must decrease.
The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 16.1: “Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere”.
International comparison: the indicator is slightly higher in Belgium (19.6% in 2021) than in France (17.2% in 2021), but considerably higher than in the Netherlands (11.5% in 2021) and Germany (11.5% in 2018, no data for 2021).
UN indicator: the selected indicator is related to target 16.1.1 - Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age.
Sources
SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals: United Nations (2015), Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, document A/RES/70/1.
Indicators: United Nations (2017), Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, document A/RES/71/313.
UN Sustainable Development: https://sdgs.un.org/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).
2023 © cic@plan.be