Damages caused by crime diminish social welfare and therefore need to be deducted in the logic of this alternative welfare measure.
Regarding the results of the component it must be noted that solely a part of criminality is covered; moreover only reported criminality can be considered (see calculation method), because there are no reliant and monetized time series for all criminal offences.
Thus, the component does not allow for statements regarding the development of total damages related to crime. Consequently it is very likely that the economic damage of criminality is underestimated here.
A sustainable decrease of costs caused by criminality should be aimed at. For Germany no clear trend for the development of cost of crime can be observed. In Comparison to the period between 1997 (first publication of total value) and 2004 the period between 2005 and 2014 shows a lower level in the average with a small outlier in 2008.
However, this trend only applies for the criminal offences captured and must not necessarily hold equally for all areas of crime.