Park the car, lock it and a few hours later you can’t find it anymore. It is a risk that may seem remote until you look at the numbers, because in Italy more than 500,000 are stolen every day 285 carsi.e. over eleven every hour, and the geography of thefts tells of a country very clearly divided between territories in which the phenomenon takes on particularly significant dimensions and others in which it remains decidedly more contained. The data emerge from the analysis carried out by Facile.it on the statistics of the Ministry of the Interior, Department of Public Security.
However, there is an important distinction to make immediately. The data of over 136 thousand vehicles stolen in one year it does not only concern cars: it includes cars, motorcycles and mopeds overall. The cars stolen alone are around 285 per day, while almost 90 motorbikes and mopeds also disappear daily.
Numbers sufficient to explain why theft continues to be one of the most concrete concerns for those who own a vehicle, especially in some areas of the country, and why specific insurance coverage is becoming less and less ancillary: according to the analysis, today the 24% of motorists choose a guarantee against theftcompared to 14% recorded in 2022.
The region where the most cars are stolen in Italy
The ranking of car thefts places first place Campaniawith 26,445 complaints in the year considered. Behind him is the Laziowhere 18,071 cars were stolen, while on the third step of the podium is the Sicilywith 15,555 cases.
These are numbers that immediately show how unbalanced the territorial distribution is. Overall, in fact, the 45% of thefts are concentrated in the regions of Southern Italyanother 20% in the Central regions and 16% in the Islands.
At the other end of the list there are territories in which the complaints number a few hundred or even a few dozen: in Friuli-Venezia Giulia 239 car thefts were recorded, in Trentino-Alto Adige 170, while the Aosta Valley closes the ranking with just 20 cases.
The comparison, naturally, concerns the absolute number of episodes and cannot be automatically read as a ranking of the individual probability of suffering a theft, because population, number of cars in circulation and territorial dimensions change profoundly from one region to another. However, the concentration of the phenomenon remains evident, especially in some large urban areas and in the Centre-South.
Italy is fourth in Europe for the frequency of thefts
The picture becomes even more significant when we broaden our gaze to Europe. According to Eurostat data analyzed by Facile.it, they are registered in Italy 231 vehicle thefts per 100 thousand inhabitantsa value that places our country in fourth place among those taken into consideration.
In front of Italy there are the Luxembourgwith 562 thefts per 100 thousand inhabitants, the Swisswith 357, and the Swedenwith 267. France and Greece follow, respectively with 198 and 174 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, while the values are decidedly lower in Germany, Spain and Poland, where 70, 49 and 19 thefts per 100 thousand inhabitants are recorded respectively.
Even in this case, however, caution is needed in interpretation. Eurostat specifies that the statistics concern the crimes recorded by the authorities and that the direct comparison between countries can be influenced by the different definitions of crimes, the ways in which complaints are presented and the different national reporting systems.
However, the data remains significant: vehicle theft is not a marginal phenomenon in our country and, above all, it does not only concern luxury cars or particularly expensive models. The clandestine spare parts market makes even very popular cars attractive, which can be stolen to be dismantled and fuel the illegal sale of components.
Not just cars: where more motorbikes and mopeds disappear
If we move from cars to two wheels, the geography changes. For motorcycles the record goes to Laziowith 5,985 thefts, followed by Campania with 5,167 and Lombardy with 4,178. As regards mopeds, Sicily is in first place with 1,328 cases, ahead of Campania with 1,036 and Lombardy with 968.
The result is that the phenomenon takes on different characteristics depending on the vehicle considered, but retains a national and above all urban dimension, because cars and motorbikes parked on the street for many hours inevitably represent a more exposed target.
How to reduce the risk of finding yourself without a car
No system can completely eliminate the risk, but some behaviors can make a vehicle less easy to hit. Among the indications collected by Facile.it is first and foremost that of avoiding, when possible, isolated car parks, poorly lit or hidden by vegetation, preferring instead areas that are busy, illuminated or subject to video surveillance.
What you leave inside the passenger compartment also matters. Bags, bags, coins, charging cables and seemingly low-value items can attract attention and lead to at least one break-in attempt. According to the data reported in the analysis, thefts from parked cars exceed 100 thousand incidents per year, approximately twelve every hour.
Another front is the technological one. The systems used by thieves have become more sophisticated and also include remote control cloning techniques, while mechanical tools that may appear almost outdated, such as steering locks and pedal locks, continue to add a further material obstacle to theft.
Finally, there is the insurance issue. The theft guarantee is not part of the mandatory car insurance, but can be added to the policy and can intervene not only in the event of complete theft of the car, but, depending on the contractual conditions, also in the event of partial theft or damage caused during an attempted break-in.
And it is probably precisely this data that tells better than others how the perception of the problem has changed: in four years the share of motorists who choose coverage against theft has gone from 14% to 24%. Because 285 cars disappearing every day may seem like a national statistic, until one of those cars is yours.
