Île-de-France concentrates a significant portion of French public transport activity due to the enormous number of daily commutes in the metropolitan area of Paris.
Illegal immigrants accounted for 61% of sexual assault arrests in Paris transport
The data from the French Ministry of the Interior corresponds to 2025, while foreigners represented 9.1% of the country's population
Île-de-France concentrates a significant portion of French public transport activity due to the enormous number of daily commutes in the metropolitan area of Paris.
The debate regarding the nationality of suspects had already reached the French Parliament. In an official response published in February 2026, the Ministry of the Interior explained that the SSMSI began to have systematic data on the nationality of individuals charged with crimes committed in public transport starting in 2025.
The Government also emphasized the need to analyze these statistics with technical criteria and sufficient temporal perspective.
The new data once again places security in Parisian public transport at the center of the national debate, especially concerning sexual assaults and the nationality composition of individuals identified by law enforcement.
The new data published by the French Ministry of the Interior shows a significant difference between the proportion of illegal immigrants in the population and their involvement among individuals identified by the police as responsible or suspected of certain crimes in public transport in the Île-de-France region, where Paris is located.
According to the data for 2025, illegal immigrants accounted for approximately 61% of the individuals charged with sexual violence incidents recorded in public transport in Île-de-France. The category of “charged individuals” refers to individuals identified by law enforcement in investigations of resolved offenses and does not automatically equate to individuals convicted by the Justice system.
This figure contrasts with the proportion of foreigners within the French population. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), in 2025 there were 6.3 million foreign residents in France, equivalent to 9.1% of the total population. This figure includes both immigrants born outside France and individuals born in the country who retain foreign nationality.
The statistics are part of the annual report from the Ministerial Statistical Service of Internal Security (SSMSI) on crime recorded in public transport. The report indicates that, overall, during 2025 there were 104,880 victims of theft, violence, scams, and fraud in French public transport, a 2% decrease from the previous year. In contrast, the recorded victims of physical or sexual violence increased by 3%.