Crime in Austria

Crime in Austria is combated by a range of Austrian law enforcement agencies.

Murder
In 2017, Austria (with a population of about 8.795 million) had an intentional homicide rate of 0.61 per 100,000 population - one of the lowest rates in the world. There were a total of 54 intentional homicides in Austria in 2017.

Theft
Pickpockets and purse snatchers can be found in the highly populated areas, including areas frequented by tourists, bus and train stations, and on subways. Residential burglaries are a significant concern, especially in the more affluent areas. The US government rates Vienna as being "medium" for levels of residential crime.

In 2004 Austria had the lowest rates of car theft in the EU.

Corruption
Austria has a well-developed institutional and legal system, and most corruption cases under investigation by a parliamentary committee end with judicial trials and effective judgments. Several significant Austrian corruption cases took place during the 2000s involving land and regional officials, high-level public officials, the central government and, in one instance, the former Chancellor.

In most cases, corrupt practices were related to conflicts of interest, abuse of office, money laundering and influence peddling. The corruption scandals have put into doubt the ethical standards of the political elite. This doubt is reflected in the findings of Eurobarometer 2012, where two-thirds of respondents perceive national politicians to be corrupt and also the most corrupt institution in Austria.

Rape crimes
Austria has several cases and issues with rape crimes, comparable with Germany and Sweden. Most of the crimes was made by non-Austrian citizens and the number has increased since 2015.

In 25 June 2021, 13 year old girl Leonie was found dead in Vienna at an apartment. She was drugged and gang raped by 3 Afghans until she passed out and died. Then the offenders rolled her in the carpet and tossed it on the tree where she were found dead next morning. All 3 offenders were arrested and sentenced to life in prison. One of the offenders claimed that she was his girlfriend. This case received significant media attention not only in Austria, but also in Germany (where one of Leonie's parents was originally from) and Switzerland. The episode also contributed to changing the view of Austrian society towards immigrants. The then-chancellor Sebastian Kurz said, "We don't want to have such sick ideologies in our country".

In March 2024, another brutal rape case was reported when a 12 year old girl from Vienna was drugged and gang raped several times by 17 offenders. Beginning after she met a 17 year old Turkish male and fell in love with him, she was later abused by other offenders of Turkish, Bulgarian and Syrian origin. Though she did not report this abuse initially due to gang harassment, police eventually arrested 17 offenders. The case in ongoing, as some offenders have been found not guilty. At least one suspect has since fled to Bulgaria.

Crime dynamics
Austria is targeted by foreign criminals, with 64 percent of drug-related offences being carried out by criminals who are born abroad. According to British criminal Colin Blaney in his autobiography Undesirables, British thieves and confidence tricksters have targeted Austria on account of the fact that it is viewed as a soft touch due to its relatively low crime rates.

By location
Most criminal activity is focused in the larger metropolitan areas.