For the development of the number of juvenile suspects of crimes, we use information about registered suspects in the Basic Enforcement Provision (BVH) of the police. The decline in the relative number of juvenile suspects that started in 2010 continued in the period 2015 to 2023. In 2023, this will be 14 suspects per 1,000 minors and 18 per 1,000 adolescents.
Latest update: September 2024
Number of juvenile suspects per 1,000 peers
12-16
16-18
12-18
18-23
2010
23
47,3
31,2
44,4
2011
20,8
43,3
28,3
42,5
2012
18,2
38,5
24,8
38,6
2013
15,4
32,1
20,9
34,1
2014
14,3
29,3
19,2
30,9
2015
13,4
28
18,3
27,3
2016
12,6
25,4
16,9
24,8
2017
11,4
23,1
15,4
22,6
2018
9,6
21,5
13,7
21,2
2019
11,1
23,6
15,5
21,9
2020
9,8
20,3
13,5
21,4
2021
10,1
18,6
13
19,8
2022
11,6
20
14,4
20,5
2023
11
19,7
13,9
17,8
Trends in juvenile suspects based on various background characteristics
For trends in the number of registered juvenile suspects in the years 2018 to 2023, we also looked at various individual characteristics, including migration background, school dropout rate, and municipality of residence.
In 2022, 56% of minor suspects (aged 12-18) have a Dutch background. Among adolescent suspects (aged 18-23), this is 54%. In some population groups, the decrease in the number of suspects from 2018 to 2023 is stronger than in other groups. For example, the number of suspects with a Moroccan migration background decreased the most, both among minors and adolescents.
School dropouts are defined as young people up to 18 years old, who have dropped out of secondary education or vocational education early, without a starting qualification (i.e., a higher secondary education or vocational education diploma, at least at level 2).
The number of suspects among adolescent school dropouts decreased by 26% in the period from 2015 to 2023. However, in 2022, adolescent school dropouts were almost five times more likely to appear in the police's suspect registration database than non-school dropouts, respectively 85 and 18 per 1,000 adolescents.
Among minor school dropouts, the number of suspects fluctuates significantly during these years. However, even in this group, in 2021 the relative number of suspects was much higher among school dropouts (70 per 1,000 juveniles) than among non-school dropouts (12 per 1,000).
In 2022, respectively 19% and 20% of all minor and adolescent suspects lived in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, or Utrecht. Thus, juvenile suspects are overrepresented in the four major municipalities (G4). For comparison: in 2022, 12% of all juveniles and 15% of all adolescents in the Netherlands lived in the G4.
On average, the number of minor suspects in the G4 decreased by 4% in the period from 2018 to 2023, while there was an increase for the whole of the Netherlands (+4%). The number of adolescent suspects in the G4 decreased by 7%, which is a stronger decrease than in other parts of the Netherlands (3%).
Trends fluctuate when divided into different types of offenses
Among minor suspects, property crimes are most common, especially shoplifting. In 2022, these increased compared to the two previous years, returning to the same level as in 2018. The number of minor suspects for weapon and drug offenses more or less remained constant from 2018 to 2022. The slight increase in 2019 may be due to a different method of incident registration by the police. Among adolescent suspects, 2022 statistics portray an increase in traffic offenses, while property, violent, and drug offenses show a slight decrease, and the proportion of suspects for other offenses remains nearly stable.
More nuanced picture of juvenile crime trends and developments
Police statistics on juvenile suspects only provide a partial image of actual juvenile crime. After all, the police do not detect all offenses. A more nuanced picture of trends and developments in juvenile crime based on a variety of sources is provided in the full Juvenile Crime Monitor.
