Approximately 70,000 bicycle thefts are reported to the police every year. But the real figure of how many bikes are stolen is believed to be much higher. That's about half a million bicycles every year, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention's national safety survey.
"You get discouraged by a hopeless society that this is happening in. At the same time, it's a kick in the butt, because we can't have it like this," says Magnus Karemyr, research engineer at VTI.
The risk of theft affects cycling
The report also shows that 10 percent of cyclists often refrain from cycling because of the risk of theft and 30 percent sometimes refrain because of the thefts.
"If 20 per cent of journeys are not made by bike, there will be consequences. Both on the environment that you might take the car instead. Or that you need to take a more complicated route in public transport," says Magnus Karemyr.
But why are there so few bicycle thefts that are reported to the police? Hear the answer in the clip above.