Right-wing extremist crimes rose to a record high in 2024

The number of right-wing extremist crimes in Germany reached a new high last year. This emerges from the response of the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a small question from the Left group in the Bundestag, which was received by the AFP news agency in Berlin. According to this, the police nationwide recorded 33,963 offenses in the area of ​​“politically motivated crime – right-wing” by November 30, 2024 alone.

The editorial network Germany (RND) first reported on the new data. The final total number of right-wing extremist crimes in the BKA statistics for 2024, which are expected to be officially presented in May, is likely to be even higher, as crimes committed in December are not yet taken into account in the available figures. In addition, late registrations can usually be expected for the months before.

In 2023, the Federal Criminal Police Office recorded a total of 28,945 right-wing political crimes. In 2024, the number of such crimes will have increased by at least 17.34 percent. A significant year-on-year increase had already been recorded in 2023. The Federal Ministry of the Interior attributed the renewed increase, among other things, to the large number of different elections over the course of 2024.

Of the almost 34,000 right-wing crimes registered last year up to and including November, 1,136 were violent crimes, of which 988 were physical injuries, five were homicides and five were attempted homicides. There were also 17 arson cases. In the entire year of 2023, 1,270 violent crimes were recorded.

The largest proportion of crimes in 2024 were propaganda offenses (21,311) and sedition (5097). The police also recorded 1942 cases of damage to property and 608 cases of coercion and threats.

The left-wing member of the Bundestag and right-wing extremism expert Martina Renner spoke of an alarming development. “The numbers have risen continuously by 20 to 25 percent in recent years. There are no drastic measures in domestic politics to stop this dangerous development,” criticized Renner in Berlin. She also pointed out that the proportion of young violent perpetrators has recently increased, even though the majority of violent perpetrators are still adults.

“If we don’t want to get used to more than 3,000 crimes committed by neo-Nazis every month, fundamental consequences must be drawn,” demanded the left-wing politician. “The baseball bat years are back again with brutal street violence, concerted attacks on Democrats, burning refugee shelters,” she further warned.

Renner also sees a connection between the rise of the AfD, which is partly right-wing extremist, and the growing right-wing violence. She therefore called on the Bundestag to request that the Federal Constitutional Court review the unconstitutionality of the AfD. A ban on the AfD would “deprive the most important organization of the extreme right of its function in the violent scene.”