ULAN BATOR, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The crime rate in Mongolia has risen by 12.3 percent in 2018, a spokesperson of the country's National Police Agency (NPA) said Friday.

A total of 36,220 criminal cases were recorded across the country in 2018, representing a year-on-year increase of 12.3 percent, Buyant Baatarkhuu, head of the press office of the NPA, said at a press conference.

The rise was largely due to a 79.3 percent increase in fraud, a 52.3 percent increase in embezzlement and a 9.8 percent increase in theft, according to the NPA.

In 2018, a total of 33,600 people were victims of crimes, nearly half of whom were children and women.

Besides, 9,283 people were injured and 934 killed in crimes in 2018, Baatarkhuu said, adding that the numbers fell by 11 percent and 17 percent respectively year on year.

Over 70 percent of the total reported crimes across the country were committed in the capital city of Ulan Bator, which has a population of 3.2 million, accounting for more than half of the country's population.