One of the biggest problems facing Greek society is crime. The Hellenic Police make significant efforts to combat it, but it is practically impossible to catch everyone who breaks the law. And even when offenders are arrested, there are many cases where Judicial Authorities take decisions that raise legitimate questions about their correctness.

We have dealt with this issue before, presenting official figures from EL.AS. reports. For example, in our article of October 25, 2023, titled “Crime among Foreigners in Greece”, we cited data from the EL.AS. Statistical Yearbook for 2022. Almost two years later, we decided to look for more recent figures. How many people were arrested in 2024 for various offenses, how many were Greek nationals and how many foreigners, and what differences exist compared to 2022 (when COVID-19 measures were still in place) and 2024.

Greek nationals and foreigners arrested in 2024 for various offenses

In 2022, 57,333 Greek nationals and 54,212 foreigners were arrested for various offenses. In 2024, the number of Greek nationals arrested jumped to 73,479 (Table 42) – 16,146 more than in 2022 (an increase of 29.78%). Foreigners arrested in 2024 numbered 57,150 (Table 43), 2,938 more than in 2022. Clearly, the increase in arrested foreigners is much smaller compared to that of arrested nationals (5.42%).

What struck us most when reviewing EL.AS. tables is the number of juvenile offenders (aged 12–18, broken down into two groups: 12–14 and 15–18). According to Table 31, which records known offenders by age category (for felonies and misdemeanors committed or attempted), there were 2,400 individuals aged 12–14 and 11,956 aged 15–18!

Another particularly interesting table is Table 59, which shows the number of people who attempted or committed suicide in 2024 and the reasons that drove them to it.

992 suicide attempts and 404 suicides in 2024

Unfortunately, 1,306 of our fellow human beings tried to end their lives in 2024. Of these, 404 died, while 992 “only” attempted. Table 59 shows:

• 658 attempts for unknown reasons
• 99 for romantic reasons
• 104 due to illness
• 89 for family reasons
• 42 for financial reasons

As for suicides:

• 321 for unknown reasons
• 10 for romantic reasons
• 38 due to illness
• 17 for family reasons
• 8 for financial reasons

These numbers, in our view, are large. Every human life has unique and great value. Both the families of those showing suicidal tendencies and the State should show more interest and support.

Comparing with 2022: there were 950 suicide attempts then (fewer than in 2024), while 505 people actually ended their lives in 2022 – 101 more than in 2024.

Since some will want to compare with the previous SYRIZA government, note that the EL.AS. Statistical Yearbook in its current form started being published in 2020, under ND. A relevant earlier figure is that in 2016 the Cyber Crime Unit prevented 337 cases of suicide attempts announced online.

Finally, regarding gender: of the 992 people who attempted suicide in 2024, 611 were men and 381 women; of those who died, 341 were men and 63 women.

Foreign inmates remain steady at around 55% in Greek prisons

In our article on January 8, 2023, regarding the percentage of foreign inmates in Greek prisons, we noted that this percentage was close to 60% (specifically 59.9% on 01/02/2021). Looking at updated data from the World Prison Brief, three years later, on 31/01/2024, the share of foreign inmates in Greek prisons had decreased by about 10% compared to 2021, now at 54.1%.

On the same date, the total prison population was 10,203 (including pre-trial detainees). 27.6% were in pre-trial detention. Women accounted for 4.9% of the prison population, and minors just 0.3%.

Numerically, as of 31/01/2024, there were about 5,520 foreign inmates in Greek prisons. The total capacity of the 34 correctional facilities is 10,775, with an occupancy rate of 94.7%. At its peak in 2014, occupancy reached 116%, then dropped to 89% in 2016, rose to 93% in 2018, and to 102% in 2020.

Greece is essentially first in Europe in terms of the proportion of foreign inmates, since countries ahead in percentages (Cyprus, Luxembourg, Monaco, etc.) have far fewer total inmates. For example, Monaco has a 93.5% foreign inmate rate, but only 31 prisoners in total (meaning 27–28 of them are foreigners).

The decline in the number of foreign inmates in Greece coincides with the general decrease in the total prison population.

As for their nationalities, no official recent data exist. Back in 2017, the then SYRIZA Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis announced in Parliament (25/01/2017) that of the 5,221 foreign inmates in Greek prisons at the time, 1,617 were Albanians, 444 Pakistanis, 417 Bulgarians, 375 Turks, 298 Syrians, 291 Georgians, and 223 Romanians. The rest came from various other countries.

Sources:
Statistical Yearbook of the Hellenic Police 2024 (publicly available online)
World Prison Brief (data publicly available online)