A total of approximately 1.54 million offences were reported in Sweden, a two percent increase on the previous year, according to the preliminary report published by Brå on Thursday.

The biggest rise was when it came to frauds and dishonest conduct, reports of which went up by 25 percent, largely due to an increase in digital fraud and extortion.

Reports of crimes against a person, including both physical and sexual assault, rose by one percent overall.

Physical assault crimes against women increased by three percent compared to the previous year while such crimes against men were down by six percent and assault crimes against children increased by one percent. In total, reports of crimes in this category fell by one percent.

The number of reported rapes in Sweden increased by eight percent in 2018, with the biggest increase in reported offences against children, which rose by 13 percent compared to the previous year. Reported rapes rose by six percent among adult women and decreased by seven percent among adult men.

The only category in which the number of reported offences decreased year on year was theft, with the largest decrease when it came to pick-pocketing incidents and burglaries of residential buildings. 

The final version of Brå's statistics, which relate only to offences reported to police and investigated by authorities as a crime, will be published in March this year.