Criminals in the Netherlands are going digital, according to official figures. Online crime has increased by 22% in the last 10 years while other types of offence halved in frequency.

Figures from the statistics agency CBS published on Monday reveal that 17% of people were the victims of ‘traditional’ crimes in 2021, down from 21% in 2019. Between 2012 and 2021 the number of recorded crimes fell by 52%.

All forms of physical crime have declined in the last decade, but the biggest recorded downturns were for muggings (down 71%), burglaries (74%) and pickpocketing (85%). Assault and sexual offences were also down by a smaller amount.

The most common online offence is sales fraud, where goods or services are not delivered after being paid for, which more than doubled over the decade, while fraud by purchasers was up by 60%. Identity fraud declined by 75% between 2012 and 2017, but has since started rising again.

The CBS said the recent downturn was not caused by people being less willing to report crime. A survey found that victims were just as likely to report an offence in 2021 as in 2019, though the figure declined by 20% between 2012 and 2019.