Number of drug crimes in 2025 up 70% from previous year

Maltese authorities received over 15,500 reports of crime in 2025, with drug crimes seeing a 70% increase from the previous year. 

Last year, there were 15,594 crime reports compared to 16,662 the previous year. This is equivalent to 27 and 30 crimes per 1,000 people in Malta respectively.

On Monday, the results of the Annual Crime Review of 2025 were discussed during a Cabinet meeting held at the CPD's Ħal Far fire station.

According to the report, penned by criminologists Saviour Formosa and Janice Formosa Pace from CrimeMalta Observatory, drug cases increased by 70% since 2025. The report credits this increase to more road checks and targeted policing.

The report highlights a number of crimes and how much their occurrence increased and decreased when compared to 2024.

Reports of damages dropped by 4% to 2,927 cases.

Meanwhile, sexual offences, including the defilement of minors and indecent exposure increased by 20%, as did threats and private violence.

The highest reported offences were theft at 28.4%.

The report indicates that, over time, crimes occurring in public or physical environments such as theft and violent offences have fallen significantly.

At the same time, offences that typically happen in private settings, including online fraud and domestic violence, have risen.

Domestic violence now accounts for about 14% of all crimes reported. Although this represents a small decrease compared with the previous year, it marks an increase of 1,918% since 2005. 

In addition, nearly 2,000 fraud cases were recorded last year, making up around 12% of total reported crime.