Street crime falls in 2025 but fear persists among Karachiites

A decline was seen in street crimes in Karachi in 2025, according to the reports. Incidents of mugging, car thefts and mobile snatching were reported but not as much as 2024. 

According to official data compiled from the FIRs, a total of 64,323 street crime incidents were recorded in 2025. These include robbery, mobile phone snatching and vehicle snatching. The figure reflects a decrease of 6,782 cases compared to 71,105 incidents reported in 2024.

Even though there was a decline in the reported cases, police records show that 70 people were killed and 290 others injured in these encounters up to the first week of December 2025. In comparison, 99 people were killed and 400 wounded during similar incidents in 2024.

Mobile phone snatching remained one of the most attempted crimes in the city. During 2025, 17,706 mobile phones were snatched at gunpoint, down from 19,353 cases in the previous year.

As for vehicle snatching, police data revealed that 6,683 vehicles were snatched at gunpoint in 2025, including 302 cars and 6,381 motorcycle compared to 8,370 vehicles snatched in 2024.

Vehicle thefts saw a similar pattern, 39,934 vehicles were stolen during the year, which included 1,813 cars and 38,121 motorcycles, compared to 43,382 stolen vehicles in 2024.

Officials claim that actual scale of street crime may be higher than seen in the FIR-based data. Several victims are unable to lodge complaints due to various factors, as a result, the documented figures represent only reported incidents rather than the full extent of crime in the city.

Data shared with the media by law enforcement and cited by CPLC indicate that while the year ended with fewer registered cases than before, street crime continued to affect daily life for citizens throughout 2025.

The statistics show measurable reductions in reported crime, however, public encounter with street crimes does persist and need desperate measures to further reduce them in the coming year.