Burglary is surreptitiously entering or remaining in a building with the intent of committing a crime, whether theft, rape, robbery or kidnapping.

Neglecting national variations in the basis of statistical estimates, figures from Interpol indicate that in 1990 there were approximately 8,452,000 cases of breaking and entering reported from 91 countries worldwide, namely 279.0 per 100,000 population; some 1,527,000 (namely 18%) were claimed to have been resolved. In the UK over 1 million burglaries are reported each year. Burglaries account for a quarter of all crime, and are increasing a rate of 9% in 1993 (house burglaries by 12%). In 75% of burglaries where property is stolen, the average loss is an estimated $1,000. Less than 5% of stolen goods are actually recovered. Approximately 400,000 of the 1 million burglaries in the UK are facilitated by unlocked doors and insecure windows.