In 2020 car thieves stole 10,697 fully insured cars in Germany, causing an economic damage of EUR 214 million. For the first time, insurers had to pay an average of more than EUR 20,000 for a theft, data published by the German Insurers' Association (GDV) shows.

"Car thieves are primarily targeting SUVs. Among the top 10 stolen cars are 7 SUVs. Land Rovers are stolen most frequently, followed by BMW and Toyota," Deputy GDV General Manager Anja K?FER-ROHRBACH explains. As statistical data show, individual thefts are becoming more and more expensive. For example, while the total number of thefts has decreased by 25%, the number of Land Rover thefts rose by a third to 190 in the past year, so that practically out of 1,000 fully insured Land Rovers, two were stolen.

Berlin holds the unfortunate record of being the German region with the highest theft rate, 20% of the nationwide car thefts taking place here. The risk of theft is still very low in the south of the republic - not even half as many cars were stolen in Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg together as in Berlin alone, the GDV analysis shows.

Comprehensive information on the car thefts in Germany by geography and car types is available on the association's website.