Over the past ten years, the proportion of people very concerned about crime in society has risen from 28 to 54 percent. But it has now fallen sharply, to 45 percent.
"We have been conducting this survey for twenty years and have never seen this kind of decrease from one year to the next. And this comes after ten years of steadily rising concern about crime in society," says deputy unit head Åsa Strid.
The report cannot explain what caused the decrease.
But you can imagine that it is related to the fact that there is much less reporting about serious crime in the media. There are far fewer reports of shootings, explosions and recruitment into gangs.
Fraud most common concern
According to the survey, victimization by crime has also continued to decrease. Fewer people say they were victims of crimes such as robbery, assault, threats and theft last year.
People are most worried about online fraud, with 37 percent saying they are very or fairly worried about it.
In terms of actual exposure in 2025, 6.2 percent were victims of sales fraud, while 3.9 percent had their accounts or personal information stolen to obtain money.
Older women stay at home
Feelings of safety in one’s own residential area vary greatly depending on where people live. Twenty percent of those living in areas with good socioeconomic conditions say they feel fairly or very unsafe going out in the evening, compared with 35 percent in vulnerable areas.
"If you read about all the terrible things that can happen, especially those related to gang violence, I understand that you feel more worried," says Åsa Strid.
The consequences of victimization can be much more severe for this group, even if the risk is lower.
Women are the ones most afraid of going out late at night. However, most do so anyway. Among older women, just over one in ten do not, out of concern about becoming victims of crime, even though this group is statistically at the lowest risk of victimization.
"It is also the group that perhaps has the most to lose if something were actually to happen to them. The oldest group is more physically vulnerable," says Åsa Strid.
The National Security Survey (NTU) has been conducted annually since 2006 by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (the Swedish crime prevention agency) and is part of Sweden’s official statistics.
Just over 210,000 people aged 16–84 were surveyed online and by post.
This year’s NTU was completed by 64,475 people between January and April. The response rate was 35 percent (design-weighted).
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