The largest category in crimes against the Criminal Code involved property offenses (79 percent). Between 1982 and 1991, the annual number of homicides varied between 107 and 152. In 1991, the police registered 152 cases of murder or manslaughter. Assaults increased by 29 percent between 1982 and 1991, and the number of assaults roughly paralleled an increase in alcohol consumption. Victimization surveys indicated that the number of violent events experienced by the Finnish population and the number of robberies declined during the 1980's. The number of robberies in 1990, however, was 25 percent higher than the figure in 1989. Thefts increased by 64 percent between 1982 and 1991; the 1991 theft rate was 3.8 crimes per 100 inhabitants. While property thefts involving individual victims decreased slightly, automobile thefts more than doubled between 1987 and 1991. Embezzlements rose by 19 percent over the 1982- 1991 period, property damage increased by 126 percent, and the number of drunk driving incidents increased by 42 percent. Tax-related crimes showed large annual variations, the number of persons sentenced for drug offenses increased during the 1980's, and Finland had a relatively low rate of forcible rapes compared to other Scandinavian countries. The number of persons prosecuted for offenses increased by 13 percent between 1982 and 1987, and the number of persons sentenced in 1990 exceeded 393,000. The median prison sentence length was 3 months in 1990. In the same year, 20 percent of all sentences were appealed. The average daily number of prisoners declined during the late 1970's, from a 1976 high of 5,596 to 4,175 in 1987, 3,972 in 1988, and 3,389 in 1989. In 1991, the number increased to 3,467, or 69 per 100,000 population. References, tables, and figures