EU state says ‘lack of money’ behind surge in crime

More and more people steal because they cannot afford food, Estonia’s Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta has said

Poverty is to blame for rising crime rates in Estonia, the country’s justice and digital minister, Liisa Pakosta, has suggested. The comments came ahead of a European Commission report partially attributing Tallinn’s economic woes to severing trade ties with Russia.  

After declining over the past decade, crime levels started to grow in 2023, Pakosta said at a press conference on Thursday, as quoted by the public broadcaster ERR. Theft was the most common offense last year. The upward trend has continued this year, with overall crime rates up 4% year-on-year. Scams have seen the most notable jump of 25%, the minister said.

The figures are part of a “wider European trend” of growing crime rates, which analysts blame on the deteriorating socio-economic situation, she added.

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“Unfortunately, the number of people who say that they steal because they otherwise do not have money to buy food and basic necessities has also increased,” Pakosta said.

Around 20% of Estonia’s population of 1.37 million people is at risk of poverty, while the absolute poverty rate stands at 2.7%, according to official statistics. Inflation rose by 4.1% in October year-on-year.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 3% in 2023, and the country is expected to remain in recession in 2024 amid weak domestic demand, according to the European Commission.

The latest economic forecast released by the Commission’s Economic and Financial Affairs department on Friday projects the Estonian economy growing by 1.1% in 2025. However, growth will remain weak in the coming years “as a result of several factors, including the permanent loss of cheap inputs from Russia.” 

Among other factors are “weak growth in the country’s main trading partners,” which in 2023 were the EU member states, and “lingering geopolitical concerns,” the report states.

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Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Estonia joined the EU campaign of trade and economic sanctions against Russia. The country’s foreign trade recorded a significant decrease the following year, with imports of goods from Russia plummeting by 92%, according to official statistics.