Motor vehicle thefts in 2023 climbed to their highest total since 2007, according to national crime data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Monday.
The national average for motor vehicle theft increased to levels not seen since 2007 despite a continuous decrease from 2004 to 2014, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) 2023 summary. The increase comes in the wake of the agency reporting decreases in other metrics of violent and property crime, despite concerns about its completeness as many agencies in the U.S. do not participate.
The national average for motor vehicle theft in 2023 was 318.7 per 100,000 residents, with the rate being 317.7 per 100,000 in 2007, according to the summary. The latest uptick in motor vehicle thefts also marks the second time since 2004, last time being in 2022, that the motor theft rate outpaced the burglary rate.
Insurance rates for cars also surged in 2023, with August 2023 seeing a 19.1% year-over-year increase in car insurance prices. Cities with over 1 million residents saw a 29.2% increase in motor thefts, and cities with between 250,000 and 499,999 residents had a 25.8% increase, according to the summary.
In 2023, the city of Chicago sued car manufacturers Kia and Hyundai for allegedly not including engine immobilizers that caused a “steep rise in vehicle thefts, reckless driving, property damage, and a wide array of related violent crimes” in the city, according to a press release. Chicago hit record high motor vehicle theft rates in 2023, and record low arrests, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.
Motor vehicle thefts are also under-reported, with the reporting rate decreasing from 81% in 2022 to 72% in 2023, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) released in September. The NVCS is a survey that measures unreported crimes by polling people directly from victims of crime.
The NCVS data charts the same increase as the UCR data between 2022 and 2023, with the NVCS showing an increase in motor vehicle theft from 5.5 per 1,000 to 6.1 per 1,000.
The thefts took place most commonly in residences and homes, with the second most common being on public streets, according to a separate FBI report on motor vehicle theft released in August. The rate of juvenile offenders has also increased, climbing from 11.9 per 100,000 in 2022 to 16.16 in 2023, according to the August report.
The FBI UCR does not contain all reported crime from all departments and agencies in the U.S., as 85.2% of agencies reported data to the FBI in 2023, up from 83.3% in 2022, according to the summary. The number of agencies enrolled in the UCR program increased from 76.9% to 83.1%.
Despite the large increase in car theft, all other property crime statistics reportedly fell, with burglaries down 7.6%, larceny-theft down 4.4% and property crime down 2.2%, according to the summary. Violent crime also reportedly decreased overall, with a 3% drop from 2022 to 2023.
Some motor vehicle thefts are also a consequence of increased migration. As Haitian migrants came into Springfield, Ohio, between 2020 and 2023, motor thefts soared substantially, city data and resident testimony showed. One resident complained that car accidents became more frequent, with a local towing employee corroborating the sentiment.
“Motor vehicle thefts involving autos – the most common type of motor vehicle theft compared to those involving trucks, buses, and other vehicles – increased more than 20 percent from 681,964 in 2022, to 819,301 in 2023, based on offenses reported by 14,258 agencies,” according to the report. “A comparison of data for the same agencies showed an 8.9 percent decrease in motor vehicle thefts involving trucks and buses, and a 6.1 percent decrease in motor vehicle thefts involving other vehicles from 2022 to 2023.”
The FBI and the White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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