Number of the month

85 %

Who is afraid of burglars?

How safe do you feel in your property, and how high do you estimate your risk of becoming a victim of burglary? Have you often considered whether you should better protect your house or apartment? Our statistic of the month might reassure or alarm you – depending on whether you have been a victim yourself or have heard of many burglaries in your neighborhood: 85 percent of Germans have never experienced a burglary.

This figure was obtained from a representative survey conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov, in which a total of 2,047 people participated. Conversely, this means that 15 percent of those surveyed have experienced a burglary, or roughly one in seven households.

Statistically speaking, the risk is not extremely high, but it is high enough to prompt many homeowners to install the most effective security measures possible. Around a quarter of the study participants rely on motion detectors or automatic lighting to deter burglars. Respondents also indicated that they had installed additional reinforcements on their front door (21 percent) or locks on windows (20 percent) and balcony doors (19 percent). However, one in three Germans (33 percent) has no additional burglary protection. The survey apparently did not address the fact that many people consider a dog their best protector when it comes to burglaries.

Furthermore, the collected data show that people who have already been victims of a burglary are more likely to resort to at least one additional protective measure than those who have so far been spared.

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