In Russia, migrants commit only 2 percent of crimes

Sergey Shoigu, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, provided specific information about the level of crimes involving migrants in the country. He emphasized that this figure constitutes a very small share in the overall crime rate — around only 2 percent.

What do the official figures say?

In an interview with the TASS news agency, Shoigu noted that by the end of 2023, there were nearly 6.3 million foreign citizens in Russia. At the beginning of 2024, this figure was 5.9 million. At the same time, the number of crimes committed by migrants has not changed significantly — 38,600 cases. This corresponds to 2 percent of the total crime statistics.

Cases of violations and deprivation of citizenship

Shoigu further added that the share of migrants whose legal stay in the country has expired has risen above 10 percent. During 2023, 3.4 million administrative offense reports were registered against foreign citizens in Russia.

Additionally, nearly 1,500 individuals were deprived of Russian citizenship for committing serious and very serious crimes.

The crime rate is decreasing, but...

Sergey Shoigu also touched upon the overall crime situation in Russia. He noted that in recent years, a stable decline in the crime rate has been observed in the country. In 2024, the number of recorded crimes was 1.9 million — which is a decrease of 1.8 percent compared to the previous year.

However, at the same time, serious and very serious crimes committed by organized criminal groups have increased by 17.1 percent. Cases of fraud have risen by 2.8 percent, and corruption-related offenses have increased by 5.8 percent.

Ministry of Internal Affairs data: migrant crimes increased in January

According to earlier information provided by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of crimes committed by foreigners and illegal migrants reached 4,400 in January 2024. This is an increase of 17.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

Official data shows that migrants are not a major factor in crime in Russia. On the contrary, their share among total crimes is very small. However, some criminal cases and offenses remain relevant. Therefore, measures to prevent and control crime are being consistently implemented by Russian officials.