MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. Last year’s crime rate in Moscow was the lowest in the past decade. The Moscow prosecutors’ board meeting reported that in 2017 the number of crimes registered in the capital had dropped 19.4% compared with the previous year (from 174,000 crimes in 2016 to 140,000 crimes in 2017). The number of thefts, robberies and muggings diminished (31%, 36% and 38.4%, accordingly).

For the past 10 years, the number of crimes in Moscow has hovered between 170,000 and 195,000 (in 2015) per year, whereas last year it was under 150,000 for the first time in 10 years.

According to prosecutors, 61,300 thefts (the most widespread type of crime) were recorded in Moscow in 2017 - there were 102,000 of them in 2012 and 89,000 cases in 2016. In 2017, the Russian capital experienced a decline in robberies, with 4,500 of them occurring (compared with 13,300 in 2012 and 7,000 in 2016). Muggings were also down, as Moscow registered 886 cases, whereas in 2012, according to statistics, there were 2,900 of them and in 2016 - 1,400.