Sweden has become in less than a decade one of the countries in Europe with the highest rate of death by firearms, overtaking the countries of Eastern Europe and Italy due to a jump in settling scores of criminal gangs, according to a report released Wednesday.
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While most European countries have seen gunshot deaths decline since the early 2000s, the Scandinavian country has followed a reverse trend and finds itself at the top of a European ranking made by the Swedish Crime Prevention Council ( Brå). “
Sweden is now very high in the ranking, with around 4 killed per million inhabitants, for a European average of 1.6. No other country in the study shows an increase comparable to that of Sweden,
”observes the report.
The latest comprehensive data for the period 2014-2017 places it second in the European Union, behind Croatia and ahead of Latvia, according to Brå.
In 2018 the country even occupies the first place but the ranking is not final.
"
The increase in violent deaths by firearms is strongly linked to criminal circles in difficult neighborhoods
," underlines the institution, which points out that the increase has mainly taken place since 2013.
40% of violent deaths involve firearms
Police and Swedish government have sounded the alarm bells in recent years on the worrying increase in shootings and other violent settling of scores, attributed to the grip of dozens of Mafia clans.
In 2020, more than 360 incidents involving firearms were recorded in Sweden, 47 dead and 117 injured, a record high according to police, in an otherwise rather peaceful country.
According to Brå, the number of victims has more than doubled in a decade, now accounting for almost 40% of violent deaths in Sweden.
The country is also distinguished by the over-representation of 20-29 year olds among the victims.
The Swedish surge in this sad ranking has sparked an important debate in recent years in the country, stunned to overtake countries like France, Italy or the Baltic countries.
The Social Democratic government has adopted a series of measures since 2019, but the results are mixed. “
Sweden shouldn't get used to this. We must reverse the trend,
”Interior Minister Mikael Damberg reacted on Wednesday. The Conservative Party of Moderates, the largest opposition party in the country, called him "
shame on Sweden
" when far-right leader Jimmie Åkesson accused the executive of having "
capitulated
" .
