Bhutan saw an increase in the overall crime trend by nearly five per cent last year. The number of cases rose from nearly 4000 in 2024 to 4153 last year. This is according to the police’s latest data. Despite the overall increase, most of the top five crimes recorded a decline in cases.
Drugs, Domestic Violence, Larceny, Burglary and Battery continued to rank as the top five crimes nationwide last year. The offences accounted for 80 per cent of all registered crimes in 2024 with slight decrease last year.
Drug related offences saw the largest decrease last year, with more than 100 cases less than 2024.
Likewise, Burglary and larceny also saw a decrease by nearly 40 and 16 cases respectively. Burglary cases dropped from 197 in 2024 to 160 last year, while 243 larceny cases were reported last year, a drop from nearly 260 cases in 2024.
However, cases of domestic violence and battery continued to rise in 2025, with 670 domestic violence cases and 574 battery cases reported, compared to 423 domestic violence cases and 508 battery cases in the previous year.
Overall, drug-related offences accounted for 40.6 per cent followed by domestic violence with 16.1 per cent and battery with 13.8 per cent. Larceny and Burglary accounted for 5.9 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively.
Sonam Yuden & Tashi Dekar
