St Julian’s remains Malta’s crime hotspot, but a projected increase in crimes across the country failed to materialise last year, official figures show.

According to the Malta Crime Report for 2016, published today, St Julian’s registered a crime rate more than five times the national average last year, followed in the rankings by Mdina, Valletta and Floriana.

Overall, however, the increase in crime levelled out last year with a rise of just 160 crimes – less than one per cent – compared to 2015.

Prof. Saviour Formosa compiled the data.

There were 17,298 offences reported in all, of which more than half were thefts.

This phenomenon has grown more than five times since 2009, driven largely by a continuing surge in pickpocketing and home robberies.

Pickpocketing registered 2,447 reports across the country in 2016, compared to just 450 seven years ago.

Among the other major crime categories, domestic violence and fraud both continued to increase, while damages and bodily harm decreased slightly.

Criminologist Saviour Formosa, who compiled the report, said last year had seen a shift in crime from social space to the invasion of personal space, suggesting a need for greater focus on personal safety and security.

He also suggested further research into domestic violence reporting to establish the true prevalence of the crime, noting that the figures could be skewed somewhat by multiple reports pertaining to a single case.

Domestic violence was the fourth most common offence last year, with 1,272 reports, compared to just 450 in 2008, when statistics first became available due to changes in legislation.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said during a press conference that internal meetings had already taken place to develop action plans based on the statistics.

He reiterated the government’s stated policy of introducing more police officers on the streets to prevent certain crimes, as well as improving officers’ equipment.

The minister also announced that discussions were taking place on installing more CCTV cameras in crime hotspots.

Statistics at a glance

• Theft accounted for more than half of all offences. Pickpocketing made up nearly a sixth of those incidents, with 224 more cases than the previous year.

• There were 552 cases of thefts from residences, 12 per cent higher than 2015.

• Drugs reporting increased by 38 per cent to 217, the highest since 2004.

• Fraud increased by 6 per cent, but computer related crime dropped by 23 per cent.

• There were an average of 2.5 reports of bodily harm every day (901 reports).

• Sexual offences decreased by 10 per cent.

• Violence against public officers increased by 5 per cent.

Crime hotspots (with rate two to five times the national average)

• Overall: St Julian’s, Mdina, Valletta, Floriana, Sliema, St Paul’s Bay, Marsa.

• Theft from homes: Marsa, St Paul’s Bay, Msida, Swieqi, Xgħajra, San Lawrenz, Għasri, Żebbug, Pembroke.

• Theft from vehicles: St Julian’s, Marsa, Xgħajra, Floriana.

• Domestic violence: Għasri, Xgħajra, Bormla.

• Commercial activity-related: St Julian’s, Pembroke, Gudja, St Paul’s Bay.