A report released today by the Northern Ireland Office has said that Northern Ireland has the lowest rate of crime victimisation out of 17 countries including Australia, Belgium and Japan.
The report, International Crime Victimisation Survey 2000: Key Findings for Northern Ireland, examined the experiences, attitudes and reporting of crime in industrialised countries. The results are for 1999.
Of those questioned in Northern Ireland only 15 per cent had been victims of crime in 1999 compared with an average of 21.3 per cent in other countries.
The main type of crime reported in the North was car vandalism, followed by theft from a car and assaults and threats.
But the report also showed that despite still being below the international average the reported burglary rate in Northern Ireland has been increasing, from 1.1 per cent in 1988 to 1.7 per cent in 1999.
Sixty-seven per cent of those surveyed said the police were doing a very or fairly good job compared with 63 per cent in 1996. Northern Ireland also had the highest rate for reporting crime to the police at 60 per cent, followed by the Netherlands at 58 per cent and Sweden at 57 per cent.
Just over a quarter of respondents believed the chances of their homes being burgled in the coming year was very likely. This is compared with 58 per cent in Portugal and 45 per cent in Belgium. The US had the lowest rate of perceived risk at just 16 per cent.