Statistics relating to persons convicted for criminal offences present those found guilty either by court (county court convictions) or by prosecutors (through prosecutor fines or waivers of prosecution).
In 2022, there were approximately 110,522 so-called conviction decisions laid down by the courts or the prosecutors. This is a 1 percent decrease compared to 2021.
Since 1975, the number of convictions has decreased by 65 percent. The greatest reduction came at the end of the 1970s in connection with the decriminalization of public drunkenness. Since then the trend has been more stable, but there has nonetheless been a continuous reduction in number of convictions. In part the reduction can be explained by the fact that over time the police have received extended authority to issue summary fines for a larger number of petty offences. These are presented separately in the conviction statistics. Part of the decrease, particularly between the years 1994—1996, can also be explained if viewed in relation to the fact that the number of cleared offences also fell during this period of time.
Road traffic offences constitute the most common offence type for which someone is convicted. In 2022, offences against various road traffic statutes were the principal offence in 29 percent of all convictions. The second most common offence type is crimes against the Narcotics Drugs Act, which was the principal offence in 28 percent of the convictions in 2022.
Fines issued either by the courts or the prosecutor is the most common form of sanction. In 2021, 60 percent of all convictions carried fines as the principal sanction. In addition, 313,424 summary fines were issued directly by the police.
In 2022, about 11 percent (12,327) of all convictions carried a prison sentence. The most common sentence length was of a maximum of two months (42 percent of all convictions carrying a prison sentence). About 1,976 sentences or 16 percent of the prison sentence carried a prison term of over two years, 23 of which carried a life sentence. In 2022, 59 youths were sentenced to youth custody, a sanction that since 1999 has largely replaced the use of prison for youths up to eighteen years of age.
A legislative change introduced 1 January 2007 led to the sanctions youth care and youth service, previously included under care of the social services, now having become separate sanctions. There were 2,905 youth care and youth service sentences in 2022. In 2022 another legislative change was introduced leading to the sanction youth surveillance. During 2022 there were 73 youth surveillance sentences.
Men and women accounted for 82 and 18 percent respectively of those found guilty of offences in 2022. Youths aged between fifteen and twenty made up approximately 18 percent of all convicted in 2022. In relation to the proportion of the population, youths are over-represented among those found guilty of offences compared to members of other age groups.