The number of crimes recorded by police nationwide came to 2,103,648 in the 11 months to November, down 11 percent, or about 260,000, from the previous year, according to a survey released by the National Police Agency.
The survey indicates that the annual figure will be lower than the prior year, which counted about 2.56 million cases, marking the third straight year of decline.
The ratio of solved crimes came to 28.9 percent in the 11-month period, up 2.5 percentage points from a year earlier, the NPA said.
Despite the decline in crimes, the NPA said the public's perception is that security is poor, citing the recent murders of two 7-year-old girls.
The number of serious offenses, including murder and robbery, fell 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 18,900, but that of white-collar crimes edged up 0.3 percent.
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