Figures provided in parliament last week confirmed what is often assumed: that the crime rate in Gozo is considerably lower than that of the island of Malta.

But a deeper analysis of these figures, which cover the years 2011 to 2013, reveals a curious exception: the rate of drugs crimes in Gozo is twice as high as that of its sister island, although visitors to the island may account for many of these cases.

The crime rate in the island of Malta is considerably higher in all other offences: in fact, the five localities with the lowest crime rate are all in Gozo.

A total of 47,388 crimes were reported to have taken place across the country between 2011 and 2013, according to figures supplied by Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia in reply to a parliamentary question by MP Jason Azzopardi. Just 1,599 of these occurred in Gozo.

Of course, Gozo's population is considerably lower, but its low crime rate is confirmed when its population (2011 census figures are used in this article) is taken to account. While the national crime rate averaged 37.84 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, the Gozitan crime rate was less than half, at 16.99.

But while the prevalence of most types of crimes was considerably higher in Malta than in Gozo, drugs crimes are a notable exception. The drugs crime rate in Gozo is of 0.87 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents, compared to a national average of 0.47.

However, this statistic does not necessarily mean that drug abuse is far more prevalent in Gozo than in Malta. While the statistics do not go into detail, it appears that circumstances beyond endemic drug abuse are the likely explanation for the localities with the highest drug crimes rates.

In fact, the highest drug crime rate (3.75 per 1,000 residents per year) can be found in Paola, which hosts the Corradino Correctional Facility. Munxar is second with a drugs crime rate of 3.43, but this is likely due to the fact that it hosts Gozo's largest night club.

Żebbuġ (Gozo), whose territory includes Marsalforn, is ranked third with 2.72, followed by St Julians with 2.31 and Għajnsielem with 2.27.

Between 2011 and 2013, no drugs offences were reported in seven localities: Balzan, Għaxaq, Kirkop, Lija, Safi, San Lawrenz, and Xewkija.

St Julians remains Malta's crime capital

The highest overall crime rate by a considerable margin - as well as the largest number of reported crimes - has occurred in St Julians, which also includes the entertainment hotspot of Paceville, and whose crime rate of 346.02 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents is far higher than that recorded anywhere else in the country.

Obviously, the high number of visitors to St Julians has an impact, a factor which is particularly clear when one considers that the second-highest crime rate (129.71) is recorded in Mdina. In fact, just 93 crimes were recorded in the silent city between 2011 and 2013, but these translate into a high crime rate since the city has fewer than 300 residents.

Floriana is third with a crime rate of 118.67, followed by neighbouring Valletta with 88.61.

The small locality of Ta' Xbiex is fifth, with a crime rate of 75.19. But this, in part, is due to a high prevalence of prostitution offences: the notorious Gżira red-light district is partly within Ta' Xbiex.

The Gozitan locality with the highest crime rate is Għajnsielem, which includes Comino and the Gozo ferry terminal, with a crime rate of 35.41.

As explained above, the five lowest crime rates are recorded in Gozitan localities, with Kerċem earning the honour of Malta's most crime-free town with a crime rate of just 7.95 crimes per 1,000 residents per year.

Fontana is second with a crime rate of 8.31 - only 22 crimes were recorded between 2011 and 2013, the lowest number registered in any locality - followed by Xagħra (8.82), Sannat (9.07) and Għarb (10.59).

The most crime-free town on the island of Malta is Santa Luċija, with a crime rate of 10.77.

A total of 8,374 recorded crimes - more than five times the amount recorded in Gozo - took place in St Julians between 2011 and 2013. 'Only' 3,341 crimes were recorded in second-placed St Paul's Bay, followed by Sliema (3,052), Birkirkara (1,706) and Valletta (1,528).

Varying crime profiles

In practically every locality, the most commonly-reported crime - often by a significant margin - is theft. Cospicua and Qala are the two exceptions - wilful damage was reported more frequently between 2011 and 2013 - while in Kerċem, an equal number of theft and damage cases were reported.

Between 2011 and 2013, there had been 6,486 thefts, 663 instances of bodily harm and 50 sexual offences in St Julians, more than anywhere else on the island, and ensuring that the crime rate for each crime category is considerably higher than anywhere else on the island.

St Julians also witnessed the largest number of cases of violence on public officers - 120 in total over three years - although due to its small population, the rate of such crimes is actually higher in Mdina, where 5 such incidents occurred, as well as the largest number of cases of wilful damage - 673 in all.

It is perhaps safe to assume that the presence of Paceville is responsible for a large proportion of these crimes: St Julians does not rank at the top when it comes to crimes which cannot easily be linked to the presence of an entertainment area.

Malta's fraud capital appears to be Birkirkara, with 4.17 such crimes recorded per 1,000 residents per year, followed closely by Valletta with a crime rate of 4.12. No fraud cases were recorded in four Gozitan localities; namely Għarb, Għasri, San Lawrenz and Sannat.

Domestic violence appears to be most prevalent in St Paul's Bay, where 273 cases were recorded between 2011 and 2013, translating to 5.55 incidents per 1,000 people per year. The next highest rates of recorded domestic violence cases are found in Kirkop (5.26) and Safi (5.14): San Lawrenz is the only locality in which no domestic violence case was reported in three years.

While the largest number of wilful damage cases took place in St Julians, Cospicua is a close second with 644 recorded cases, which translates the highest rate - 40.9 per 1,000 residents per year - of such cases in Malta.

rostitution-related offences - most are likely to be loitering for the purposes of prostitution - only recorded in six localities, none of which are in Gozo. The largest number of cases - 139 - occurred in Marsa, followed by Gżira (75) and Ta' Xbiex (59): due to its relatively small population, the highest rate of prostitution offences is actually recorded in Ta' Xbiex.