Image: Eetu Pietarinen / Yle

Drunk men killing people remains a distinctive feature of Finnish criminal offences compared to other Nordic countries, according to a fresh analysis by researchers from across the Nordics.

"The relationship is such that if alcohol was eliminated, in practice violence would be eliminated," said Martti Lehti of the Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy (Krimo).

The data show that between 2007 and 2016, suspects were drunk in 75 percent of all homicides in Finland. The corresponding figure in Sweden was 42 percent.

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The study suggests that if homicides involving alcohol occurred in Finland with the same frequency as they did in Sweden during the period researched, it would mean one fewer person killed for every 100,000 people. Or in other words, an average of fifty fewer homicides per year.

In 2017, the proportion of homicides perpetrated by drunken men fell to under half the total recorded during the study period. This was the first year on record in which inebriated males did not represent a majority of suspects in homicide cases.

The total number of killings also decreased, and in 2017 stood at half the figure in the worst years since 2000.

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In most western countries the number of homicides has declined over the last decade, and that has occurred in Finland too. However, that downward trend has stopped within the last two years. The reasons vary from country to country.

"In Sweden, gang violence in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö is the clear reason," said Lehti. "In Denmark, killings within the home have become more common."

In Finland, the number of homicides perpetrated by someone under the influence of alcohol rose last year after the decline until 2017.