12% of Luxembourg Residents Victim of Burglary Incidents

Luxembourg's national statistics portal, STATEC, has published a report on burglaries in the Grand Duchy, drawing on data from the safety survey it conducted in 2019-2020.

In two-thirds of cases, it was the home itself that was targeted, while a quarter of the incidents concerned the areas around the house, such as the garage (25%) and the garden or land in proximity to the house (8%).

In more than half of the burglary cases, all parties combined, nothing was stolen. A theft occurred in 54% of break-in cases targeting houses. On the other hand, violence was rarely involved, in only 2% of cases.

If 12% of the resident population has been the victim of a burglary or an attempted burglary in Luxembourg over the last five years, the prevalence of burglaries over the last twelve months remains lower than 2% of the total population, STATEC emphasised.

Burglaries mainly affect homes and households with high incomes

Nearly two-thirds of incidents concerned houses: almost half (48%) were detached or semi-detached/twin houses and 16% were terraced houses. As for apartments and/or studios, they accounted for 36% of burglaries.

Furthermore, the prevalence rate of burglaries increased with household income, going from 5% for households less well off financially to 9% for those earning at least €5,000 per month.

Link observed between the occurrence of a burglary and neighbourhood security problems

Among households having declared problems with drugs or street harassment which often occur in their neighbourhood, 15% have been victims of a burglary or attempted burglary of their home in the last five years. On the contrary, when there are never any problems with drugs or harassment, the rate drops to 5% respectively 4%. Vandalism further increases the household’s risk of being the victim of a burglary,  according to STATEC.

Cantons of Luxembourg and Remich are more exposed to the risk of burglary

The distribution of households victims of attempted or actual burglaries was not only differentiated by neighbourhoods but also by cantons. The cantons of Luxembourg and Remich were in the lead with respectively 10% and 8% of the population declaring to have been victims of burglaries or attempted burglaries over the last five years. The northern cantons were found to be the least affected.

37% of households whose home was broken into in Luxembourg say they suffered financial damage that was not covered by insurance. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 meaning no impact and 10 a very significant impact), the median financial impact was reported to be 6. This means that the importance of the financial impact has been estimated above 6 by half of the victims. It is even higher than 8 for a quarter of them. As for the emotional impact of the actual or attempted break-in, the median impact is 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. In the context of the emotional impact, the statement that comes up the most often is the feeling of loss of confidence, more particularly the feeling of vulnerability and insecurity after the break-in, cited by 60% of those concerned. Then come fear, anxiety or panic attacks (48%), shock (39%) and sleep or eating disorders (16%).

84% of actual or attempted break-ins into homes are reported to the police

The rate of reporting break-ins varies unsurprisingly depending on the part concerned, varying from 84% for the home to 42% for the surrounding area. For burglaries reported to the police, households were asked to express their satisfaction with the way the police handled the break-in. Overall, 29% were very satisfied, 37% somewhat satisfied, 20% somewhat dissatisfied and 15% were not satisfied at all.