Fig. 1-1-1-8 shows the clearance rates for penal code offenses over the last 30 years.

Fig. 1-1-1-8  Clearance rate for penal code offenses (1977-2006)

  The clearance rate, which used to be around 70% in overall number of penal code offenses, has been on the decline in recent years, as a sharp increase in the number of cases reported for penal code offenses overwhelmed the capacity of clearance. In 2001, it was 38.8% for penal code offenses and 19.8% for non-traffic penal code offenses, both of which were the lowest in the post WWII period. However, it has increased somewhat since 2002, to 51.0% (up by 2.8 points from the previous year) for penal code offenses and 31.3% (up by 2.6 points (id.)) for non-traffic penal code offenses in 2006.