29 Surprising France Burglary Statistics, including Paris Break-ins
Paris is unfortunately known for its burglaries, house robberies, and apartment break-ins. Criminals have always targeted tourists due to their lack of familiarity with the city, making them easy targets for pickpocketing and other forms of theft, but French residents aren’t immune to theft either. Apartment break-ins are a common occurrence in Paris, with thieves taking advantage of the lack of doormen in most buildings plus the many vacant apartments in the city used as secondary residences.
Kim Kardashian’s burglary in Paris was a highly publicized incident that occurred in October 2016 and brought attention to the city’s crime wave. While in Paris for Fashion Week, Kardashian was held at gunpoint and robbed of $10 million worth of jewelry. The suspects, who were all male, entered her apartment and forced her into the bathroom, where she was bound and gagged. Fortunately, Kardashian wasn’t terribly harmed and the suspects were later arrested. The incident shocked the world and served as a reminder of the importance of personal safety and security in Paris.
I was the victim of a Paris apartment burglary this past July which got me curious about the facts and statistics around burglaries in Paris and France. Here are several French burglary statistics you may not know about the City of Light and apartment theft in France.
Burglaries in France
Paris is not only the capital of France, it’s also the capital of apartment break-ins in France. The most burglaries in France by city take place in Paris proper, followed by La Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne (le Parisien).
In 2019, police recorded 237,400 residential burglaries in France (INSEE). A total of 91%, or 217,500, burglaries and attempted burglaries took place in principal residences. 19,900 were reported in secondary homes during the same year.
The French burglary rate increases in proportion to the population of the city or town. You are increasingly more likely to be robbed in a town or city with more residents. French towns with less than 5,000 residents, see an average rate of 5 break-ins per 1,000 homes each year. French cities with 200,000 to 2,000,000 residents, including Paris, see an average of 8-9 break-ins per 1,000 homes each year.
The Ile-de-France region suffered the most number of burglaries in 2022, with more than 46,072, or 23%, of residential burglaries in France, according to FranceLive. The second most affected region for burglary is the sunny Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region, comprising Marseille.
Burglaries have increased the most in the Hauts-de-France and Corsica regions in 2022 which each saw an approximate 7% increase year over year.
The French regions least affected by home burglaries are Normandy, Brittany, and Corsica, making them the safest places to live if you don’t want to be burglarized.
The French administrative department with the most robberies is Bouches-du-Rhone, which saw 11,701 robberies reported in 2021, an average of 11.2% of residences. The largest city in this department is Marseille, with Aix-en-Provence and Arles nearby (data.gouv.fr).
Burglaries in Paris
Looking at available data, robberies in Paris have increased by 29% in 2022. 8,600 burglary reports were filed in Paris during the first 9 months of the year, according to Le Parisien.
9,668 burglaries were reported in Paris in 2021 (data.gouv.fr).
You have a 7% chance of being the victim of an apartment burglary in Paris, France.
30 apartment break-ins take place every day in Paris. According to Capital, at least 30 home robberies happen every day in Paris, France with some estimates as high as 36 per day.
The Paris arrondissements most likely to be robbed are, in this order: the 15th arrondissement, Central Paris arrondissements 1-4, the 16th arrondissement, and the 19th arrondissement.
Your apartment is most likely to be robbed in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, which saw 961 burglaries reported in 2022, an increase of 11% from the prior year.
Your apartment is least likely to be robbed in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, which saw 243 burglaries reported in 2022 (Le Point).
Burglaries reported in the relatively calm and local 19th arrondissement nearly doubled to 646 reports, an increase of 89% from the previous year.
Burglaries remained stable or only slightly higher in the 10th and 12th arrondissements according to the latest statistics.
Notably, the 9th arrondissement saw 62% fewer burglaries this year (cnews).
When Burglaries in France Happen
Contrary to popular belief, most burglaries in France (80%) happen during the day, not the night, according to La Tribune. Most victims are at work when their home is broken into.
75% of burglaries in France take place on weekdays, according to FranceLive.
What months are the most common for French burglaries? The most burglaries in France happen during November and December, followed by July and August. Your home is least likely to be robbed during the month of April.
How Burglars in France Get In
The most common way for burglars to enter a residence is by breaking a door, which accounted for 64% of home burglary entry methods in 2018, according to the latest figures from INSEE.
23% of robberies occur by breaking the window of the residence, and 18% by climbing a balcony or fence.
Confrontation with the Perpetrator
Two-thirds of all robberies occur when the inhabitants are not present – either temporarily out of the house or during a vacation period – and thus there is no confrontation. That’s a somewhat reassuring statistic!
In 41% of robberies, no member of the household is present at the time of the break-in.
In 26% of robberies, the residence is temporarily unoccupied or on vacation at the time of the break-in.
In 31% of robberies, a member of the household is present during the break-in.
10% of all robbery victims in France see the perpetrators during the act. 6% of burglary victims hear the perpetrators breaking in while they are present in the house. 15% of burglary victims neither hear nor see the perpetrators while they are present in the house.
The Theft
45% of burglaries in France involve the theft of jewelry according to the Observatoire National de la Délinquance et des Réponses Pénales (ONDRP), followed by liquid cash, and then electronics such as computers, tablets, and consoles.
Half of all Paris burglaries are committed by people who live in ÃŽle-de-France, with a famous example being the robbery of actor Vincent Cassel, robbed by a small group of local neighborhood robbers (le Parisien) who targeted him.
It’s important to report burglaries to the police whether they are successful or not. 71% of all successful burglaries are reported to the police. Only 30% of failed or attempted burglaries are reported to the police.
To protect yourself from residential burglaries, home robberies, and apartment break-ins in Paris or France, it is important to be aware of your surroundings at all times, to keep your valuable items hidden, never have food delivered directly to your door, and to be extra vigilant when it comes to locking doors and windows.
You are not alone! This happened to me while renting an apartment for 2 weeks during the summer of 2018 on Rue Dauphine in the 6th. I was literally across the street at the Accord Language School 😂. The place was ransacked, and the steel lock had been forcibly removed from the door. The thieves took anything of value except for clothes. My NYC renters insurance covered the monetary losses though. However, I returned to Paris in 2019 and 2021 but with fewer valuables. C’est la vie!
It’s a major problem in France that the country seems to just accept as “part of life.” Sad!
That is totally true. The apartment owner and police were lovely to deal with, but they all had stories of their own robberies. Like breathing to them. I returned to a jewelry store in the Marais to repurchase stolen items, and the owner had her engagement ring stolen a day before her wedding! The cost of living in Paris nowadays.
Yep, I flew back to the US shortly after and spoke with a French woman on the flight who had been robbed in Bordeaux that same summer!