Crime in the Netherlands

Crime in the Netherlands encompasses a range of criminal activities, from common property offences and violent crime to highly organized drug trafficking networks. Although the country has experienced a long-term decline in most categories of crime since the early 2000s, recent years have seen that decline level off, and certain areas, including online crime and drug offences, have shown increases.

According to Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS), the police recorded a total of 812,000 crimes in 2024, an average of 2,220 per day. This was slightly fewer than the 816,000 crimes recorded in 2023.^[2] The national rate stood at 45 recorded crimes per 1,000 inhabitants.^[2] Nearly six in ten of all recorded crimes were property offences, such as theft and fraud.^[2]

Recorded crime fell steadily between 2011 and 2018, but has since remained roughly stable for six consecutive years.^[2] A 2025 CBS analysis concluded that this long-term decline in crime appears to have ended, with police-recorded figures, self-reported victimisation surveys, and criminal justice statistics all showing stabilisation or modest increases after 2018.^[3]

Crime is unevenly distributed across the country. In 2024, Amsterdam recorded the highest crime rate with nearly 90 offences per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Rotterdam and Eindhoven at approximately 80 per 1,000. The Hague and Utrecht both registered around 68 per 1,000 inhabitants. By contrast, the municipality of Bronckhorst had the lowest rate, at 16 per 1,000.^[2]

There were 120 victims of murder or manslaughter in the Netherlands in 2024, comprising 76 men and 44 women. This was five fewer than in 2023 and roughly half the number recorded at the start of the century.^[4] Over the 25-year period from 2000 to 2024, an average of 164 people were killed annually; over the most recent decade, the average was 127 per year.^[4] Within Europe, the Netherlands is among the countries with the lowest murder rates.^[4]

More than half of female homicide victims during the period 2020 to 2023 were killed by a partner or ex-partner (52 percent). Among men, 32 percent of identified cases involved an acquaintance and 11 percent were linked to organised crime. Over 70 percent of male victims were killed with a firearm or a stabbing weapon.^[4]

The rate of violent crime (including sexual offences) has decreased from 7.0 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2010 to 4.3 per 1,000 in 2024 in absolute terms, the number fell from 115,800 in 2010 to approximately 78,000 in 2024.^[5] However, 78,000 violent offences (including sexual offences) were recorded in 2024, an increase of 1,800 compared with the previous year.^[6] The number of registered sexual offences in 2024 was higher than in 2010.^[3]

Property crimes, principally theft and fraud, account for the largest share of all recorded offences.^[2]

Domestic burglary has declined dramatically over the past decade. In 2024, the police recorded 22,000 burglaries, approximately 500 fewer than in 2023 and far below the 71,000 recorded in 2014.^[2] In the broader comparison with 2010, when 102,700 burglaries were registered, the 2024 total of 32,800 (including burglaries of sheds and garages) represents less than one-third of the earlier figure.^[5] In 2024, the highest burglary rate by province was found in Noord-Brabant (2.2 per 1,000 inhabitants), while Zeeland had the lowest (1.4 per 1,000).^[5]

The Netherlands applies a distinctive drug policy, rooted in the gedoogbeleid (tolerance policy). Although the sale, possession, and production of all drugs is technically prohibited under the Opium Act (Opiumwet), authorities tolerate the sale of small quantities of cannabis in licensed coffeeshops, provided strict conditions are met.^[7] The Opium Act distinguishes between "soft drugs" (cannabis products, classified on List II) and "hard drugs" (such as cocaine, heroin, MDMA, and LSD, classified on List I), with stricter penalties for the latter.^[8]

Individuals may possess up to 5 grams of cannabis or cultivate up to 5 plants for personal use without facing prosecution, though plants may still be confiscated.^[7] The sale of cannabis in coffeeshops is tolerated under what are known as the AHOJGI criteria, which include prohibitions on advertising, the sale of hard drugs, nuisance, sales to minors, and a maximum stock of 500 grams per establishment.^[8] As of 2023, there were approximately 570 coffeeshops in 102 municipalities across the country.^[9]

A long-standing criticism of the tolerance policy is the so-called "back door problem": while the retail sale of cannabis at coffeeshops is tolerated, the supply chain behind those sales remains illegal and unregulated, creating a grey area exploited by criminal networks.^[9] In April 2025, the Netherlands launched a Controlled Cannabis Supply Chain Experiment (Experiment gesloten coffeeshopketen) in ten municipalities, requiring participating coffeeshops to source cannabis exclusively from government-approved growers.^[9]

In 2024, the police recorded 15,300 drug-related offences and 7,300 weapons-related offences (including firearms). While drug-related offences remained roughly at the same level as a decade earlier, weapons offences were 24 percent higher than in 2014.^[2] Data from 2025 showed drug offences reaching their highest level since 2013, with 15,369 cases recorded.^[10]

The Netherlands is a major hub for organised crime in Europe, principally due to the strategic location of the Port of Rotterdam, one of the largest in the world, and Schiphol Airport. The country is considered both a transit and destination point for cocaine and a leading producer of synthetic drugs such as MDMA and amphetamine.^[11]

The most prominent organised crime phenomenon in recent Dutch history is the Mocro Maffia, a term for a loose network of predominantly Dutch-Moroccan criminal organisations heavily involved in cocaine trafficking. The name was popularised by criminologist Martijn Schrijver's 2014 book of the same title.^[12] The network operates primarily through the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, importing cocaine from South America for distribution across Europe. It has been estimated to control up to a third of Europe's cocaine market.^[13]

The Mocro Maffia's central figure, Ridouan Taghi, was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and subsequently tried in the Marengo trial, which became the longest and one of the largest criminal trials in Dutch history. In February 2024, Taghi was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in ordering multiple murders.^[12] The trial involved 17 defendants in total, three of whom received life sentences.^[13]

The violence associated with the Mocro Maffia has had a profound impact on Dutch society. A key prosecution witness, Nabil B., saw his brother murdered in 2018; his lawyer Derk Wiersum was assassinated in 2019; and prominent crime journalist Peter R. de Vries was shot in Amsterdam in July 2021 and died nine days later.^[12][13] In 2018, the Dutch National Police Union warned in a report to parliament that the Netherlands displayed "many traits of a narco-state".^[14]

Beyond the Mocro Maffia, Dutch organised crime involves a range of other actors. The Netherlands is the only country in Europe with a significant presence of Crips street gangs, primarily based in The Hague, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam and composed largely of individuals of Antillean and Surinamese descent. Outlaw motorcycle gangs such as the Hells Angels and Satudarah also play roles in the Dutch underworld.^[11] The country further serves as both a destination and transit country for arms trafficking, with illegal firearms entering through Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic.^[11]

The Netherlands is also a primary destination country for human trafficking, with victims subjected to sexual exploitation, forced labour, and other forms of exploitation, often in legal sectors such as hospitality and agriculture.^[11]

Online crime is a growing phenomenon. In 2024, an estimated 2.4 million people aged 15 and older reported being victims of one or more types of online crime in the preceding twelve months, a significant increase from 2022.^[15] Almost half (48 percent) of victims reported their online crime incidents to the police or another authority, while 18 percent contacted the police directly.^[15] The CBS conducts a dedicated Online Veiligheid en Criminaliteit (Online Safety and Crime) survey in even-numbered years to monitor trends in this area.^[16]

The CBS Veiligheidsmonitor (Safety Monitor), a large-scale biennial population survey, tracks self-reported victimisation. In 2023, 20 percent of the population reported having been a victim of traditional crime (violence, theft, or vandalism) in the preceding twelve months. This was up from a low of 17 percent in 2021, but remained well below the 30 percent recorded in 2012.^[17] Over the full period 2005 to 2023, overall victimisation from traditional crime fell by 53 percent.^[17]

Young people (aged 15 to 25) reported higher victimisation rates than the general population: 29 percent in 2023, compared to 18 percent for the population as a whole.^[18] Residents of large cities (70,000+ inhabitants) were also more likely to become victims, at 25 percent versus the national average of 20 percent.^[17]

Men are more often victims of property crime and vandalism, while men and women experience violent crime at similar rates.^[17] About a quarter of victims reported emotional, physical, or financial consequences from their victimisation.^[17]

In 2023, 0.8 percent of the Dutch population was registered as a suspect of a criminal offence, down from 1.9 percent in 2005, a reduction of nearly 60 percent.^[19]

Among young people (aged 12 to 23), 1.6 percent were registered as a crime suspect in 2023. Over half of young suspects came into contact with the police for the first time.^[18] The declining trend in youth suspects continued across most offence types, with the exception of drug offences.^[18]

Dutch law enforcement is structured around a single national police force (Politie) with specialized units focusing on counter-terrorism, organised crime, and intelligence gathering. Observers have noted that the force faces funding constraints relative to the scale of organised crime threats, and in 2024, police representatives requested increased budgets to address staffing shortages and modernize digital crime-fighting capabilities.^[11]

Crime prevention efforts in the Netherlands focus on strengthening security at key transport hubs, disrupting criminal financial networks, and providing social alternatives for at-risk youth.^[11] In 2024, the government introduced stricter sentencing for serious drug-related offences to deter organised crime involvement.^[11] Non-governmental organisations play an active role in research, policy advocacy, and victim support.^[11]

The CBS maintains extensive open data on registered crime through both its StatLine database and the Politie Open Data portal, which publishes statistics on offences by type, region, and time period. These data are compiled from police records and updated regularly.^[20]

• Drug policy of the Netherlands
• Organised crime in the Netherlands
• Marengo trial
• Opium Act (Netherlands)