Data Interception Rates by Country 2026

Unlawful interception of computer data involves illegally capturing or accessing data transmissions, a form of digital espionage affecting both individuals and organizations. This analysis presents data interception rates per 100,000 population across 29 countries, based on official data reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

[TABLE2|title=Data Interception Rates by Country Per 100k Population]

What is Unlawful Data Interception?

Data interception refers to the unauthorized capture of data during transmission or storage. This includes:

• Wiretapping – Intercepting communications without authorization
• Packet sniffing – Capturing network traffic data
• Man-in-the-middle attacks – Intercepting communications between parties
• Keylogging – Recording keystrokes to capture passwords and data
• Email interception – Unauthorized access to email communications

Important Note on Interpreting This Data

Data interception is one of the most underreported cybercrimes because victims often remain unaware their data was intercepted. Only 29 countries reported data for this category, reflecting both the technical difficulty of detecting interception and varying legal definitions across jurisdictions. The absence of major economies indicates gaps in international reporting standards.

Key Findings

Colombia leads with 38.01 cases per 100,000 population in 2021 (2022 data unavailable), significantly higher than other countries. This may reflect Colombia's specific legal framework or active enforcement against wiretapping.

Switzerland (15.87), Poland (12.59), and Portugal (9.71) show the highest rates among countries with 2022 data. These European nations have strong data protection laws that may encourage reporting.

Finland's rate decreased from 5.68 in 2020 to 3.66 in 2022, while Singapore increased from 0.16 to 0.97, showing varying trends across countries.

Most countries report rates below 1 per 100,000, indicating either rare prosecution of such cases or classification under other crime categories.

Data Interception Rates by Country Per 100k Population

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#	Country	2020	2021	2022
1	Switzerland	8.98	11.35	15.87
2	Poland	13.39	13.07	12.59
3	Portugal	7.37	6.08	9.71
4	Finland	5.68	4.08	3.66
5	Lithuania	1.39	4.26	1.85
6	Armenia	1.18	2.89	1.35
7	Guatemala	1.67	1.59	1.31
8	Singapore	0.16	0.11	0.97
9	Austria	0.89	0.8	0.84
10	Ecuador	0.58	0.54	0.76
11	Albania	0.28	0.42	0.64
12	France	0.59	0.59	0.63
13	Romania	0.5	0.5	0.34
14	Germany	0.2	0.22	0.23
15	Croatia	0.03	0.05	0.2
16	Slovakia	0.29	0.39	0.11
17	Latvia	0.05	0	0.11
18	Italy	0.25	0.14	0.1
19	Ireland	0.04	0.02	0.06
20	Greece	0.04	0.02	0.03
21	Honduras	-	0.42	0.03
22	Colombia	33.7	38.01	-
23	United Arab Emirates	0.18	0.18	-
24	Panama	0.14	-	-
25	Guyana	-	0.12	-
26	Azerbaijan	0.05	0.04	-
27	Qatar	0	0.04	-
28	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-	0.03	-
29	Peru	0	0.02	-

Data Source

• Source: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) – Corruption and Economic Crime Statistics
• Unit: Rate per 100,000 population
• Years covered: 2020, 2021, 2022
• Countries included: 29 countries with available data