Armed robberies are 28 times more frequent in South Africa than in Japan

According to the South African police, nearly 2.1 million crimes were recorded in South Africa in 2008. About 30% were cases of murder, assault causing injury, or robbery. There were about 18,000 murders, and about 121,000 armed robberies. Sixty percent of armed robberies occurred on public streets. Although South Africa's population is one-third of Japan's, it is plagued by 14 times more murders and 28 times more armed robberies.