Sweden’s National Council on Crime Prevention released their latest Swedish Crime Survey on Wednesday which revealed that a growing number of Swedes are victims of crime, when compared to figures from previous years. The figures, which are for 2016, revealed that crime levels at at their highest level since records began in 2006.

In total, more than 15% of people surveyed said that they had been a victim of at least one crime in 2016; a figure which is up from 13.3% the previous year.

Criminology Researcher, Manne Gerell, told The Local:

WHAT REALLY STANDS OUT IS THAT THIS IS SUCH A BROAD INCREASE, AFFECTING ALMOST ALL TYPES OF CRIME. I THINK THIS RISE IS WORRYING; IT’S SOMETHING THAT DESERVES A LOT OF ATTENTION. WE’VE HAD DECLINING OR AT LEAST STABLE RATES OF VICTIMISATION OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS AT LEAST IN SWEDEN, AND NOW IT LOOKS LIKE THE TREND HAS SHIFTED TO AN INCREASE IN CRIME.

In particular, acts of harassment and sexual assaults are on the rise in Sweden, with the percentage of victims increasing from 4.1% to 5.5% and from 0.8% to 2.4% respectively (2012-2016 figures). Although this change in percentage may seem small, please bear in mind that the increase in sexual assaults from 1.7% in 2015 to 2.4% in 2016 is an increase to a whopping 181,000 people. In fact, 4.1% of the total female population in Sweden say they have been a victim of at least one sexual offence.