The number of people admitted to German trauma centres with life-threatening stab wounds linked to violent crime has risen sharply over the past decade, according to an analysis of data from hundreds of hospitals.
The study by the German Society for Trauma Surgery (DGU), published in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt, examined 3,664 seriously injured patients treated at 600 German hospitals between 2013 and 2024.
The number of such cases rose from 212 in 2013 to 336 in 2024, an increase of almost 59%. The figure peaked at 382 in 2023.
Although knife-related injuries remain a small proportion of all serious trauma cases, their share increased from 0.95% in 2013 to 1.47% in 2023. Around 72% of patients required emergency surgery, while 8.2% died during their hospital stay.
The injuries were concentrated particularly in the chest and abdomen, with 61.5% and 39.8% of patients respectively suffering injuries to these areas. The authors warned that such cases pose a particular challenge to trauma teams because penetrating injuries remain relatively uncommon in everyday hospital practice.
According to Frank Hildebrand, the President of DGU,
The treatment of stab wounds is much more common in our everyday work today than it was ten years ago.
The victims also differed markedly from the wider population of seriously injured patients. Their average age was 34.2 years and 85.5% were male.
The increase was particularly pronounced in densely populated areas. Between 2019 and 2023, Germany recorded an average of 1.87 serious stab injuries linked to suspected violent crime per 100,000 inhabitants.
Rates were more than twice the national average in the most densely populated areas. Berlin, Munich, Cologne, and Frankfurt were among the cities in the highest-density category.
The findings come amid wider concerns about violent and knife-related crime in Germany linked to mass immigration.
Official police statistics for 2025 recorded around 29,000 knife-related offences, equivalent to roughly 80 incidents a day. Around half involved the use of knives in acts of violence, while the remainder involved threats or intimidation.
The DGU study covers only the most serious cases and therefore does not capture the many victims who survive less severe stab wounds or those who die before reaching hospital.
The study did not record information about victims’ nationality, social background, the identity or nationality of suspects, or the motives behind the attacks.
However, official police data shows that non-German nationals are significantly overrepresented among perpetrators of violent crime, including knife attacks.