Washington ? More than half of all violent crimes committed in the United States in 2000 were never reported to police, often because the victim felt it was a private matter or the injuries were not significant, government figures released Sunday show.

About 49 percent of the 6.2 million rapes, armed robberies and assaults were reported to police in 2000, according to the Justice Department. Armed robbery was the most likely to be reported, simple assault the least likely.

Crime victims most often cited “a personal matter” for not reporting a crime, particularly rapes and simple assaults.

About 5 percent said they feared reprisals, a number that rose to 12 percent for victims who decided not to disclose sexual assaults.

Victims who were injured usually reported crime, including 90 percent of gunshot victims. Women and older people more frequently reported crimes to police than did men and younger people.

The results are based on interviews of more than 872,000 people age 12 or older who were crime victims between 1992 and 2000.

The report found that reporting of violent crime has risen from an average of 43 percent during 1992-1999 to 49 percent in 2000.