The number of corruption offences in Germany clearly decreased last year. Compared to the previous year, it fell by almost 52 percent to 3,600 offences. The number of suspects also decreased significantly. It decreased by 46.8 percent to 1,306.
Among the suspects were 730 givers and 576 takers, 51 per cent of whom were public officials. However, the share of public officials among those willing to commit crimes remained below the five-year level. The damage caused by acts of corruption has also clearly decreased. In 2022, it amounted to 27 million euros, almost 56 percent less than a year earlier. This is the result of the current situation report of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) on corruption offences. According to this, the economy was a preferred target area. In addition, donors were predominantly from the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.
The situation report explains the decline as follows: “This is due in particular to the fact that several more extensive proceedings, which had contributed to the higher number of offences in 2021, were processed or concluded by the police in the reporting year.”
