The national crime rate was down for the first time in eight years in 2003, with criminal cases falling 2.2 percent from the record 2,853,739 recorded the year before, the National Police Agency said Monday.
There were 2,790,136 criminal cases recognized by police last year, while the number of suspects arrested or questioned increased 9.4 percent to 648,319.
Serious crime was up 7.5 percent, prompting the agency to characterize the state of public safety as a serious problem.
The proportion of cases in which arrests were made or cases were turned over to prosecutors stood at 23.2 percent, up 2.4 percentage points, the NPA said in a report.
The drop in the overall number of cases was attributed to fewer street crimes, including a 12.4 percent drop in purse-snatchings and a 22 percent decrease in motorbike thefts, according to the document.
As for serious crime, murders jumped 4 percent to 1,452 cases. Bank or street robberies increased by 9.7 percent to 7,664, while arsons rose 13.1 percent to 2,070.
Robberies of houses or shops were up 27.6 percent.