In 2023, 7.2 thousand crimes were recorded by the police authorities in the Region, representing an increase of 5.9% compared to the previous year (6.8 thousand). The data, provided by the Directorate-General for Justice Policy (DGPJ), were released today by the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM).
According to DREM, the most important crimes in relation to the total number of crimes recorded – “crimes against property” and “crimes against persons” – presented values of 2.7 and 2.4 thousand in 2023, respectively, representing 70.1% of the total (70.5% in 2022). Compared to 2022, “crimes against property” increased by 6.7% and “crimes against persons”, by 3.7%.
By municipality, the results indicate that more than half of the crimes recorded in the Autonomous Region of Madeira in 2023 occurred in Funchal (3.8 thousand crimes; 52.2% of the total), followed by the municipalities of Câmara de Lobos (939 crimes; 13.0%), Santa Cruz (777 crimes; 10.8%) and Machico (463 crimes; 6.4%).
In 2023, the crime rate – which corresponds to the ratio of the number of crimes per resident population (in thousands) – stood at 28.1‰, higher than that recorded in 2022 (26.9‰). It should be noted that this rate was substantially lower than the national average (35.0‰) and the value recorded in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (40.6‰). In the Region, the highest rates were observed in “crimes against property” (10.5‰) and “crimes against physical integrity” (6.2‰).
By municipality, the lowest rate was observed in Santana (12.6‰) and the highest in Porto Santo (51.8‰). In addition to the latter municipality, Funchal (35.0‰), Ribeira Brava (30.0‰), and Câmara de Lobos (28.6‰) had rates above the regional average.
In 2023, the police authorities identified and registered 1,115 injured/offended persons of crimes of domestic violence against the spouse (or similar) in the Region, 97 more than in the previous year (1,018 people), however, 2015 recorded the highest values of domestic violence which affected 1,240 people. 72.4% of these injured/offended identified were women, however, in terms of injured/offended there was a substantially higher growth compared to the previous year in men (+27.8%) than in women (+3.9%). 777 (69.7%) injured/offended parties were identified as living in Funchal and 74 (6.6%) in Santa Cruz.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
