Berlin, 30 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) - German police recorded a significant increase in crimes in 2022 compared to the previous few years, according to statistics released on Thursday.

The number of crimes had been lower in each of the last five years than in the prior year, but in 2022 this figure rose by 11.5% to 5.63 million cases nationwide.

The clearance rate fell to 57.3% with a drop of 1.4% points.

The data from 2022 showed the workload for German police authorities had increased significantly, said Jochen Kopelke, chairman of the police union.

In light of staff and equipment shortages and a slow pace of digitalization there is an urgent need to take action, he said.

The increase in 2022 is seen as linked to the many cases of pickpocketing, shoplifting, residential burglaries, white-collar crime and robbery, among other offenses.

An overall rise in illegal immigration is seen to explain the increase in the number of criminal violations of the right of residence, the right of asylum and the EU right of free movement.

The removal of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic also played a role here, since the measures made irregular border crossings more difficult.

Also German residents spent more time in their homes in 2020 and in 2021, making home burglaries and pickpocketing a rarer occurrence in those years compared to 2022.

In terms of violent crimes, the police also noted an increase in comparison to the previous year and 2019.

At about 197,000 cases, there were nearly 20% more cases in 2022 than the previous year and nearly 9% more than in 2019.

Strikingly, the proportion of underage suspects for the "distribution of pornographic material" is very high at around 41%.

According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, children and young people get into a habit of sharing inappropriate images in group chats and on social media channels channels without knowing that this could be a criminal offence.