Crime Figures in Japan Rise Again in 2024

The 2025 white paper on crime published by Japan’s Ministry of Justice, which compiles statistics on crime in the nation during 2024, found that the number of reported crimes that year rose by more than 30,000 to 737,679, in the third successive annual increase. Thefts accounted for nearly 70% of all offenses, totaling 501,507 cases.

There was a notable increase in the number of reported cases of fraud, rising by 11,313, or 25%, to 57,324 in 2024. Of these 21,043 were in the “specialized fraud” category. The ministry saw this as the result of an increase in activity by loosely organized tokuryū crime groups.

There were also 3,936 cases of sexual assault and indecent assault, up 45%. Reforms to legislation in 2023 are thought to have clarified the definitions of these crimes, leading to an increase in reports.

Homicides increased by 58 year on year to 970, while robberies rose by 9 to 1,370.

Record Numbers of Cybercrime and Stalking Arrests

The number of arrests for criminal offenses rose by 17,723 to 287,273 in a second successive annual increase. This included 13,164 arrests for cybercrimes, 2,649 for child abuse, and 1,341 for stalking, all of which are new record highs. The arrest rate rose by 0.6 percentage points to 38.9%.

Of the total of 191,826 people arrested, 103,129 were first-time offenders and 88,697 reoffenders. The recidivism rate fell by 0.7 points to 46.2%, dropping for the fourth consecutive year after a long period of successive increases.

The number of juveniles (aged 14 to 19) arrested for criminal offenses had been falling from 2004, but began rising again from 2022, reaching 26,206 in 2023 and 29,675 in 2024, in a third year of increases.

Data Sources

• White Paper on Crime 2024 (Japanese) from the Ministry of Justice.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Investigators examining a site in Tokorozawa, Saitama, on June 10, 2025, in connection with the murder of a woman found in a metal drum in Yoshikawa in the same prefecture. © Jiji.)