The crime rate in London was 106.4 crime offences per thousand people for the 2024/25 reporting year, compared with 105.8 in the previous year. Between 2015/16 and 2019/20, the crime rate in the UK capital increased in every reporting year. The sudden drop in 2019/20 was due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing a sharp reduction in certain types of crime, such as robbery and theft. Crime patterns in the capital Overall there were 951,803 crimes reported by the police in London in 2024/25, compared with 938,020 in the previous reporting year. Types of crime that have increased recently include violent crimes, shoplifting, and theft from the person offences. One positive is that the number of homicide offences in London has fallen to much lower levels than seen in the late 2010s. Additionally, the Metropolitan Police force area has a lower crime rate than many of the UK's other major police forces, such as West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, and South Yorkshire. Police recruitment drive ends era of cuts  The rise in crime in London happened alongside a decline in both personnel and funding for the London Metropolitan Police. Compared with 2010 for example, there were around 3,000 fewer police officers in 2018, while annual funding was reduced to around 3.3 billion pounds between 2013/14 and 2018/19, compared with 3.62 billion in 2012/13. These cuts were due to the policy of austerity that was implemented by the UK government during that time period, but this has recently been replaced by pledges to increase spending and to recruit more police. In 2024/25, the budget for the Metropolitan Police was over five billion pounds, while the number of officers in 2024 increased to around 35,310.

There were 951,803 crimes recorded in London in the 2024/25 reporting year, compared with 938,020 in the previous year. During this time period, crime in London increased steadily, with the figure of 912,487 in 2019/20 a pre-pandemic peak when there were approximately 102.4 crimes per 1,000 people taking place in the UK capital, compared with 106.4 crimes per 1,000 people in the most recent year. What types of crime are rising? Compared with crime levels before the COVID-19 pandemic, some types of crime have yet to reach the same levels they were at in the 2019/20 reporting year. The number of criminal offences related to theft and drugs, are slightly down in 2023/24 when compared with pre-pandemic trends. On the other hand, the number of violent crimes reached a peak of 252,545 offences in 2023/24, while the number of sexual offences in London since 2021/22 has been far higher than in previous years. London compared to the rest of UK While the UK capital receives extensive coverage for its crime problems, the increase in crime there is part of a wider trend afflicting the rest of the country. The overall crime rate for England and Wales in 2023/24 was 89.7 crimes per 1,000 people, slightly lower than in 2022/23, when the crime rate was the highest since 2006/07. Additionally the Metropolitan Police, the police service responsible for policing Greater London had the sixth-highest crime rate among police force areas with Cleveland police force in North East England having the highest.

With approximately 122.1 crimes per 1,000 population, Cleveland, in North East England, had the highest crime rate of all the police force areas in England and Wales in 2024/25. High crime rates are evident in other areas of northern England, such as West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester at 114.5 and 108.2, respectively. In the UK capital, London, the crime rate was 105.5 per 1,000 people. The lowest crime rate in England was in the relatively rural areas of Wiltshire in South West England, as well as North Yorkshire. Overall crime in England and Wales The number of crimes in England and Wales reached approximately 6.74 million in 2022/23, falling slightly to 6.66 million in 2023/24, and 6.59 million in 2024/25. Overall crime has been rising steadily across England and Wales for almost a decade, even when adjusted for population rises. In 2022/23, for example, the crime rate in England and Wales was 93.6, the highest since 2006/07. When compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, England and Wales is something of an outlier, as crime rates for Scotland and Northern Ireland have not followed the same trajectory of rising crime. Additionally, there has been a sharp increase in violent crimes and sexual offences since the mid-2010s in England and Wales. While theft offences have generally been falling, the number of shoplifting offences reached a peak of 530,640 in 2024/25. Troubled justice system under pressure Alongside rising crime figures, many indicators also signal that the justice system is getting pushed to breaking point. The percentage of crimes that are solved in England and Wales was just 5.7 percent in 2023, with sexual offences having a clearance rate of just 3.6 percent. Crimes are also taking far longer than usual to pass through the justice system. In 2022, it took an average of 407 days for a crown court case to reach a conclusion from the time of the offence, compared with 233 days in 2018. This is most likely related to the large backlog of cases in crown courts, which reached over 67,750 in 2023. Furthermore, prisons in England and Wales are dangerously overcrowded, with the government even releasing some prisoners early to address the issue.

The mapping results of urban health determinates (Number of recorded crimes) in 350m hexagonal grids of Inner London

Number and rate (per 100,000 population) of homicide victims, Canada and Census Metropolitan Areas, 1981 to 2024.

There were 104 homicides recorded by the police in London in the 2024/25 reporting year, compared with 116 in 2023/24. Prior to the most recent year, 2017/18 had the most homicides in London at 159, with the fewest occurring in 2016/17, when there were 107. Comparisons with the rest of the UK With a homicide rate of 11.6 per million people, London had the highest homicide rate among UK regions in 2024/25. On a more localized level, the Metropolitan Police of Greater London reported a lower homicide rate than other police force areas that cover major cities, such as Merseyside, while the highest homicide rate among UK police forces was in Lincolnshire, in the East Midlands. Across England and Wales as a whole, there were 535 homicides in 2024/25, compared with 567 in the previous year. Knives the most common weapon used In 2023/24 there were 262 homicides in England and Wales involving a knife or other sharp instrument. As a comparison, there were just 22 homicides caused by a firearm in the same reporting year. While guns are generally difficult to obtain in the United Kingdom, knives are far more prevalent and have become a major problem for the police, particularly in London. The number of knife crime offences in London rose from 9,752 in 2015/16 to 16,344 in 2024/25.

This MSOA atlas provides a summary of demographic and related data for each Middle Super Output Area in Greater London. The average population of an MSOA in London in 2010 was 8,346, compared with 1,722 for an LSOA and 13,078 for a ward. The profiles are designed to provide an overview of the population in these small areas by combining a range of data on the population, births, deaths, health, housing, crime, commercial property/floorspace, income, poverty, benefits, land use, environment, deprivation, schools, and employment. If you need to find an MSOA and you know the postcode of the area, the ONS NESS search page has a tool for this. The MSOA Atlas is available as an XLS as well as being presented using InstantAtlas mapping software. This is a useful tool for displaying a large amount of data for numerous geographies, in one place (requires HTML 5). CURRENT MSOA BOUNDARIES (2011) PREVIOUS MSOA BOUNDARIES (2001) NB. It is currently not possible to export the map as a picture due to a software issue with the Google Maps background. We advise you to print screen to copy an image to the clipboard. Tips: - Select a new indicator from the Data box on the left. Select the theme, then indicator and then year to show the data. - To view data just for one borough*, use the filter tool. - The legend settings can be altered by clicking on the pencil icon next to the MSOA tick box within the map legend. - The areas can be ranked in order by clicking at the top of the indicator column of the data table. Themes included here are Census 2011 Population, Mid-year Estimates, Population by Broad Age, Households, Household composition, Ethnic Group, Country of Birth, Language, Religion, Tenure, Dwelling type, Land Area, Population Density, Births, General Fertility Rate, Deaths, Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR), Population Turnover Rates (per 1000), Crime (numbers), Crime (rates), House Prices, Commercial property (number), Rateable Value (£ per m2), Floorspace; ('000s m2), Household Income, Household Poverty, County Court Judgements (2005), Qualifications, Economic Activity, Employees, Employment, Claimant Count, Pupil Absence, Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, GCSE and Equivalent, Health, Air Emissions, Car or Van availability, Income Deprivation, Central Heating, Incidence of Cancer, Life Expectancy, and Road Casualties. The London boroughs are: City of London, Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster. These profiles were created using the most up to date information available at the time of collection (Spring 2014). You may also be interested in LSOA Atlas and Ward Atlas.

Numbers of recorded offences, and rates of offences per thousand population, by broad crime grouping, by financial year and borough.

Rate is given as per thousand population, and are calculated using mid-year population from the first part of the financial year eg For Financial year 2008-09, mid-year estimates for 2008 are used.

Offences: These are confirmed reports of crimes being committed. All data relates to "notifiable offences" - which are designated categories of crimes that all police forces in England and Wales are required to report to the Home Office
Crime rates are not available for Heathrow due to no population figures

Monthly crime data by borough and ward is available from the Met Police website, available around one month after month end.

The total number of recorded crimes per month is also shown. A fuller breakdown by 32 different types of crime is available on the MPS website.

There were changes to the police recorded crime classifications from April 2012. Therefore caution should be used when comparing sub-groups of crime figures from 2012/13 with earlier years.

Action Fraud have taken over the recording of fraud offences on behalf of individual police forces. This process began in April 2011 and was rolled out to all police forces by March 2013. Due to this change caution should be applied when comparing data over this transitional period and with earlier years.

Link to data on Met Police website.

Crime stats on ONS website

Police-reported hate crime, number of incidents and rate per 100,000 population, Census Metropolitan Areas and Canadian Forces Military Police, 2014 to 2024.

The number of knife or sharp instrument offences recorded by the police in London rose to approximately 16,344 in 2024/25, compared with 15,016 in the previous year. This was the highest number of knife crime offences reported in London during this provided time period. Between 2015/16 and 2019/20, knife crime in London increased yearly, with a particularly large increase occurring between 2016/16 and 2017/18. A wider trend The increase in knife crime witnessed in London has occurred alongside a general increase in overall crime throughout England and Wales. In 2022/23, there were approximately 6.74 million crime offences across England and Wales, compared with just over four million ten years earlier. During a similar time period, the number of knife homicides also increased, and reached 282 in 2017/18, compared with 186 in 2014/15. Due to strict gun laws in the United Kingdom, firearms are rarely used to commit homicides, with knives or other sharp instruments being used in over 46 percent of homicides in 2023/24. Acid and moped attacks While knife crime in London has certainly been given a lot of attention by the British media, the increase in acid and moped attacks during the same time period also generated many headlines. In 2017, for example, there were 471 acid attacks recorded by the Metropolitan Police, compared with just 51 in 2007. Moped crime also reached high levels in 2017, with both types of crime declining to much lower levels by the early 2020s. Although overall crime in London continued to rise until 2019/20, this fell back during the COVID-19 pandemic, but by 2023/24, the number of crimes committed in the capital had exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

The average for 2017 based on 65 countries was 1.8 kidnappings per 100,000 people. The highest value was in Belgium: 10.3 kidnappings per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Bermuda: 0 kidnappings per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 2003 to 2017. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The LSOA atlas provides a summary of demographic and related data for each Lower Super Output Area in Greater London. The average population of an LSOA in London in 2010 was 1,722 compared with 8,346 for an MSOA and 13,078 for a ward. The profiles are designed to provide an overview of the population in these small areas by combining a range of data on the population, diversity, households, health, housing, crime, benefits, land use, deprivation, schools, and employment. Due to significant population change in some areas, not all 2011 LSOA boundaries are the same as previous LSOA boundaries that had been used from 2001. A lot of data is still only available using the 2001 boundaries therefore two Atlases have been created - one using the current LSOA boundaries (2011) and one using the previous boundaries (2001). If you need to find an LSOA and you know the postcode of the area, the ONS NESS search page has a tool for this. The LSOA Atlas is available as an XLS as well as being presented using InstantAtlas mapping software. This is a useful tool for displaying a large amount of data for numerous geographies, in one place (requires HTML 5). For 2011 Census data used in the 2001 Boundaries Atlas: For simplicity, where two or more areas have been merged, the figures for these areas have been divided by the number of LSOAs that used to make that area up. Therefore, these data are not official ONS statisitcs, but presented here as indicative to display trends. NB. It is currently not possible to export the map as a picture due to a software issue with the Google Maps background. We advise you to print screen to copy an image to the clipboard. IMPORTANT: Due to the large amount of data and areas, the LSOA Atlas may take up to a minute to fully load. Once loaded, the report will work more efficiently by using the filter tool and selecting one borough at a time. Displaying every LSOA in London will slow down the data reload. Tips:

• Select a new indicator from the Data box on the left. Select the theme, then indicator and then year to show the data.
• To view data just for one borough, use the filter tool.
• The legend settings can be altered by clicking on the pencil icon next to the LSOA tick box within the map legend.
• The areas can be ranked in order by clicking at the top of the indicator column of the data table.

Themes included in the atlases are Census 2011 population, Mid-year Estimates by age, Population Density, Households, Household Composition, Ethnic Group, Language, Religion, Country of Birth, Tenure, Number of dwellings, Vacant Dwellings, Dwellings by Council Tax Band, Crime (numbers), Crime (rates), Economic Activity, Qualifications, House Prices, Workplace employment numbers, Claimant Count, Employment and Support Allowance, Benefits claimants, State Pension, Pension Credit, Incapacity Benefit/ SDA, Disability Living Allowance, Income Support, Financial vulnerability, Health and Disability, Land use, Air Emissions, Energy consumption, Car or Van access, Accessibility by Public Transport/walk, Road Casualties, Child Benefit, Child Poverty, Lone Parent Families, Out-of-Work families, Fuel Poverty, Free School Meals, Pupil Absence, Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, GCSE, Level 3 (e.g A/AS level), The Indices of Deprivation 2010, Economic Deprivation Index, and The IMD 2010 Underlying Indicators. The London boroughs are: City of London, Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster. These profiles were created using the most up to date information available at the time of collection (Spring 2014). You may also be interested in MSOA Atlas and Ward Atlas.

These ward level well being scores present a combined measure of well-being indicators of the resident population based on 12 different indicators. Where possible each indicator score is compared with the England and Wales average, which is zero. Scores over 0 indicate a higher probability that the population on average will experience better well-being according to these measures. Users can adjust the weight of each indicator depending on what they consider to be the more or less important, thus generating bespoke scores. This is done either by entering a number between 0 and 10. The scores throughout the spreadsheet will update automatically. The tool combines data across a range of themes for the last five years of available data (2009-2013). View the results in the online interactive tool here, The well-being scores are then presented in a ranked bar chart for each borough, and a ward map of London. The spreadsheet also highlights wards in the top and bottom 25 per cent in London. Wards that have shown significant improvement or reduction in their scores relative to the average over the five year period are also highlighted. Borough figures are provided to assist with comparisons. Rankings and summary tables are included. The source data that the tool is based on is included in the spreadsheet. Detailed information about definitions and sources is contained within the spreadsheet. The 12 measures included are: Health Life Expectancy Childhood Obesity Incapacity Benefits claimant rate Economic security Unemployment rate Safety Crime rate Deliberate Fires Education GCSE point scores Children Unauthorised Pupil Absence Families Children in out-of-work households Transport Public Transport Accessibility Scores (PTALs) Environment Access to public open space & nature Happiness Composite Subjective Well-being Score (Life Satisfaction, Worthwhileness, Anxiety, and Happiness) (New data only available since 2011/12) With some measures if the data shows a high figure that indicates better well-being, and with other measures a low figure indicates better well-being. Therefore scores for Life Expectancy, GCSE scores, PTALs, and Access to Public Open Space/Nature have been reversed so that in all measures low scores indicate probable lower well-being. The data has been turned into scores where each indicator in each year has a standard deviation of 10. This means that each indicator will have an equal effect on the final score when the weightings are set to equal. Why should measuring well-being be important to policy makers? Following research by the Cabinet Office and Office for National Statistics, the government is aiming to develop policy that is more focused on ‘all those things that make life worthwhile’ (David Cameron, November 2010). They are interested in developing new and better ways to understand how policy and public services affect well-being. Why measure well-being for local areas? It is important for London policy makers to consider well-being at a local level (smaller than borough level) because of the often huge differences within boroughs. Local authorities rely on small area data in order to target resources, and with local authorities currently gaining more responsibilities from government, this is of increasing importance. But small area data is also of interest to academics, independent analysts and members of the public with an interest in the subject of well-being. How can well-being be measured within small areas? The Office for National Statistics have been developing new measures of national well-being, and as part of this, at a national and regional level, the ONS has published some subjective data to measure happiness. ONS have not measured well-being for small areas, so this tool has been designed to fill this gap. However, DCLG have published a tool that models life satisfaction data for LSOAs based on a combination of national level happiness data, and 'ACORN' data. Happiness data is not available for small areas because there are no surveys large enough for this level of detail, and so at this geography the focus is on objective indicators. Data availability for small areas is far more limited than for districts, and this means the indicators that the scores are based on are not all perfect measures of well-being, though they are the best available. However, by using a relatively high number of measures across a number of years, this increases the reliability of the well-being scores. How can this tool be used to help policy makers? Each neighbourhood will have its own priorities, but the data in this tool could help provide a solid evidence base for informed local policy-making, and the distribution of regeneration funds. In addition, it could assist users to identify the causes behind an improvement in well-being in certain wards, where examples of good practice could be applied elsewhere. Differences to the previous report This is the 2013 edition of this publication, and there is one change from 2012. Indicators of Election turnout has been replaced with a composite score of subjective well-being indicators. This tool was created by the GLA Intelligence Unit. Please contact datastore@london.gov.uk for more information.

The ward profiles and ward atlas provide a range of demographic and related data for each ward in Greater London. They are designed to provide an overview of the population in these small areas by presenting a range of data on the population, diversity, households, life expectancy, housing, crime, benefits, land use, deprivation, and employment. Indicators included here are population by age and sex, land area, projections, population density, household composition, religion, ethnicity, birth rates (general fertility rate), death rates (standardised mortality ratio), life expectancy, average house prices, properties sold, housing by council tax band, tenure, property size (bedrooms), dwelling build period and type, mortgage and landlord home repossession, employment and economic activity, Incapacity Benefit, Housing Benefit, Household income, Income Support and JobSeekers Allowance claimant rates, dependent children receiving child-tax credits by lone parents and out-of-work families, child poverty, National Insurance Number registration rates for overseas nationals (NINo), GCSE results, A-level / Level 3 results (average point scores), pupil absence, child obesity, crime rates (by type of crime), fires, ambulance call outs, road casualties, happiness and well-being, land use, public transport accessibility (PTALs), access to public greenspace, access to nature, air emissions / quality, car use, bicycle travel, Indices of Deprivation, and election turnout. The Ward Profiles present key summary measures for the most recent year, using both Excel and InstantAtlas mapping software. This is a useful tool for displaying a large amount of data for numerous geographies, in one place. The Ward Atlas presents a more detailed version of the data including trend data and generally includes the raw numbers as opposed to percentages or rates. The Instant Atlas reports use HTML5 technology, which can be used in modern browsers, including on Apple machines, but will not function on older browsers. WARD PROFILES Compare the ward measure against the Borough, London and National average. WARD ATLAS Access the raw data for all London wards. WARD ATLAS FOR 2014 BOUNDARIES In May 2014, ward boundaries changed in Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, and Tower Hamlets. This version of the ward atlas gives data for these new wards, as well as retaining data on the unchanged wards in the rest of London for comparison purposes. Data for boroughs has also been included. Very few datasets have been published for the new ward boundaries, so the majority of data contained in this atlas have been modelled using a method of proportion of households from the old boundaries that are located in the new boundaries. Therefore, the data contained in this atlas are indicative only. Instant Atlas for 2014 Ward Atlas Tips: - Select a new indicator from the Data box on the left. Select the theme, then indicator and then year to show the data. - To view data just for one borough*, use the filter tool. - Some legend settings can be altered by clicking on the cog icon next to the Wards tick box within the map legend. - The wards can be ranked in order by clicking at the top of the indicator column of the data table. Note: Additional indicator information and sources are included within the spreadsheet and Instant Atlas report. OTHER SMALL AREA PROFILES Other profiles available include Borough, LSOA and MSOA atlases. Data from these profiles were used to create the Well-being scores tool. *The London boroughs are: City of London, Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster. These profiles were created using the most up to date information available at the time of collection (September 2015).

There were ***** firearm offences recorded in London 2023/24, compared with ***** in 2022/23. There was a noticeable drop in gun crime at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with offences falling from ***** in 2019/20 to ***** in 2021/21, and ***** in 2021/22. This is also reflected in London's overall crime rate, which fell from ***** crimes per 1,000 people in 2019/20, to **** in 2020/21, before increasing to **** in 2021/22, and ***** in the most recent reporting year. Firearm homicides rare in the UK The United Kingdom has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, resulting in relatively low levels of gun crime and firearm homicides. In 2023/24 just *** percent of homicides in England and Wales were the result of shootings, compared with *****percent in the United States in 2023. The most common method of killing for homicides in England and Wales was by far the use of a sharp instrument, such as knife, at ** percent of homicides in the 2023/24 reporting year. London police budget cut in 2025/26 In 2025/26, the budget for policing in London was cut to **** billion pounds, from over **** billion in 2024/25. Prior to this, London's police budget increased for sixth-consecutive years, occurred alongside a recruitment drive for police officers, which had fallen to quite low levels in the mid 2010s. It is unlikely that the London policing budget will fall to as low as it did in the mid 2010s, when the budget was effectively frozen at around *** billion pounds a year between 2013/14 and 2018/19

In 2024/25, there were 104 homicide offences recorded in London, the most of any region of the United Kingdom during that time period. North West England, which includes the large cities of Manchester and Liverpool, had 69 homicides and had the second-highest number of homicides. In the same reporting period, the constituent countries of Wales and Northern Ireland reported the fewest homicides, at 23, and 13 respectively. Homicides in the UK falling despite recent uptick Since 2002/03, all three jurisdictions of the UK; England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, have seen their homicide rates fall, with Scotland seeing the steepest decline. The most significant decline in homicides in this period occurred between 2002/03 and 2014/15, which saw the annual number of homicides in England and Wales half from over 1,000 to around 500. This trend was suddenly reversed from 2015/16 onwards, with homicides rising to around 700 per year between 2016/17 and 2019/20. While homicides fell back to 535 in 2024/25, it remains to be seen if this pattern will continue. Knives used in almost half of all murders In 2024/25 a knife or other sharp instruments were used in approximately 46 percent of all murders in England and Wales, making this, by far, the most common method of killing in that reporting year. The overall number of knife homicides reached 262 in 2023/24, compared with 243 in the previous year. Firearm homicides were much rarer than knife homicides, with only 22 taking place in the same reporting year, and homicides caused by shooting only accounting for 3.9 percent of homicides overall.

There were 26,803 police recorded sexual offences in London in 2024/25, compared with 24,334 in the previous reporting year, with a peak for sexual offences occurring in the most recent reporting year.

In the 2024/25 reporting year there were 3.4 sexual offences per 1,000 population in England and Wales, with Cleveland police force reporting the highest rate of 4.7 sexual crimes per 1,000 people.