In 2023/24 there were 25,205 crimes against public justice recorded by the police in Scotland, with the 2020/21 figure the highest for this type of crime since 2011/12, when there were 26,635 crimes of this type recorded.

Police recorded crime figures by Police Force Area and Community Safety Partnership areas (which equate in the majority of instances, to local authorities).

There were 16,624 fraud crimes recorded by the police in Scotland in 2023/24, a slight fall on 2022/23, but a significant increase compared with previous reporting years, such as in 2019/20 when there were 11,939 of these offences.

In the 2023/24 reporting year, West Yorkshire Police reported a crime rate of 121.7 crimes per 1,000 population, the highest crime rate among the provided police force areas whose territories include large cities. Greater Manchester Police reported a crime rate of 117.7 crimes per 1,000 population, and had the second-highest crime rate during this year.

In 2023, there were four homicide offences recorded in the Northern Ireland policing district of Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon, and one each in seven other districts. In this reporting year, there were 11 homicides in Northern Ireland, with three policing districts recording no homicide offences.

In the 2023/24 reporting year there were estimated to have been approximately 5,400 fraud offences recorded in Northern Ireland, compared with 4,671 in the previous year.

With a crime rate of 122.1 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 English 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. 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 440,000 in 2023/24. 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 2023, it took an average of 676 days for a crown court case to reach a conclusion from the time of the offence. This is most likely related to the large backlog of cases in crown courts, which reached over 62,200 in 2023. Furthermore, prisons in England and Wales are dangerously overcrowded, with just 1,458 spare prison places available as of June 2024.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) asks a sole adult in a random sample of households about their, or their household's, experience of crime victimisation in the previous 12 months. These are recorded in the victim form data file (VF). A wide range of questions are then asked, covering demographics and crime-related subjects such as attitudes to the police and the criminal justice system (CJS). These variables are contained within the non-victim form (NVF) data file. In 2009, the survey was extended to children aged 10-15 years old; one resident of that age range was also selected from the household and asked about their experience of crime and other related topics. The first set of children's data covered January-December 2009 and is held separately under SN 6601. From 2009-2010, the children's data cover the same period as the adult data and are included with the main study.

The Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) became operational on 20 May 2020. It was a replacement for the face-to-face CSEW, which was suspended on 17 March 2020 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It was set up with the intention of measuring the level of crime during the pandemic. As the pandemic continued throughout the 2020/21 survey year, questions have been raised as to whether the year ending March 2021 TCSEW is comparable with estimates produced in earlier years by the face-to-face CSEW. The ONS Comparability between the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales and the face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales report explores those factors that may have a bearing on the comparability of estimates between the TCSEW and the former CSEW. These include survey design, sample design, questionnaire changes and modal changes.

More general information about the CSEW may be found on the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales web page and for the previous BCS, from the GOV.UK BCS Methodology web page.

History - the British Crime Survey

The CSEW was formerly known as the British Crime Survey (BCS), and has been in existence since 1981. The 1982 and 1988 BCS waves were also conducted in Scotland (data held separately under SNs 4368 and 4599). Since 1993, separate Scottish Crime and Justice Surveys have been conducted. Up to 2001, the BCS was conducted biennially. From April 2001, the Office for National Statistics took over the survey and it became the CSEW. Interviewing was then carried out continually and reported on in financial year cycles. The crime reference period was altered to accommodate this.

Secure Access CSEW data
In addition to the main survey, a series of questions covering drinking behaviour, drug use, self-offending, gangs and personal security, and intimate personal violence (IPV) (including stalking and sexual victimisation) are asked of adults via a laptop-based self-completion module (questions may vary over the years). Children aged 10-15 years also complete a separate self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaires are included in the main documentation, but the data are only available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7280), not with the main study. In addition, from 2011 onwards, lower-level geographic variables are also available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7311).

New methodology for capping the number of incidents from 2017-18
The CSEW datasets available from 2017-18 onwards are based on a new methodology of capping the number of incidents at the 98th percentile. Incidence variables names have remained consistent with previously supplied data but due to the fact they are based on the new 98th percentile cap, and old datasets are not, comparability has been lost with years prior to 2012-2013. More information can be found in the 2017-18 User Guide (see SN 8464) and the article ‘Improving victimisation estimates derived from the Crime Survey for England and Wales’.

The self-completion modules on drinking behaviour, drugs and stolen goods are subject to restrictive controlled data access conditions - see SN 7280.

From January 2019, all releases of crime statistics using CSEW data adopted a new methodology for measuring repeat victimisation (moving from a cap of 5 in the number of repeat incidents to tracking the 98th percentile value for major crime types).

To maintain a consistent approach across historic data, all datasets back to 2001 have been revised to the new methodology. The change affects all incident data and related fields. A “bolt-on” version of the data has been created for the 2001/02 to 2011/12 datasets. This “bolt-on” dataset contains only variables previously supplied impacted by the change in methodology. These datasets can be merged onto the existing BCS...

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) asks a sole adult in a random sample of households about their, or their household's, experience of crime victimisation in the previous 12 months. These are recorded in the victim form data file (VF). A wide range of questions are then asked, covering demographics and crime-related subjects such as attitudes to the police and the criminal justice system (CJS). These variables are contained within the non-victim form (NVF) data file. In 2009, the survey was extended to children aged 10-15 years old; one resident of that age range was also selected from the household and asked about their experience of crime and other related topics. The first set of children's data covered January-December 2009 and is held separately under SN 6601. From 2009-2010, the children's data cover the same period as the adult data and are included with the main study.The Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) became operational on 20 May 2020. It was a replacement for the face-to-face CSEW, which was suspended on 17 March 2020 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It was set up with the intention of measuring the level of crime during the pandemic. As the pandemic continued throughout the 2020/21 survey year, questions have been raised as to whether the year ending March 2021 TCSEW is comparable with estimates produced in earlier years by the face-to-face CSEW. The ONS Comparability between the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales and the face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales report explores those factors that may have a bearing on the comparability of estimates between the TCSEW and the former CSEW. These include survey design, sample design, questionnaire changes and modal changes.More general information about the CSEW may be found on the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales web page and for the previous BCS, from the GOV.UK BCS Methodology web page.History - the British Crime SurveyThe CSEW was formerly known as the British Crime Survey (BCS), and has been in existence since 1981. The 1982 and 1988 BCS waves were also conducted in Scotland (data held separately under SNs 4368 and 4599). Since 1993, separate Scottish Crime and Justice Surveys have been conducted. Up to 2001, the BCS was conducted biennially. From April 2001, the Office for National Statistics took over the survey and it became the CSEW. Interviewing was then carried out continually and reported on in financial year cycles. The crime reference period was altered to accommodate this. Secure Access CSEW dataIn addition to the main survey, a series of questions covering drinking behaviour, drug use, self-offending, gangs and personal security, and intimate personal violence (IPV) (including stalking and sexual victimisation) are asked of adults via a laptop-based self-completion module (questions may vary over the years). Children aged 10-15 years also complete a separate self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaires are included in the main documentation, but the data are only available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7280), not with the main study. In addition, from 2011 onwards, lower-level geographic variables are also available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7311).New methodology for capping the number of incidents from 2017-18The CSEW datasets available from 2017-18 onwards are based on a new methodology of capping the number of incidents at the 98th percentile. Incidence variables names have remained consistent with previously supplied data but due to the fact they are based on the new 98th percentile cap, and old datasets are not, comparability has been lost with years prior to 2012-2013. More information can be found in the 2017-18 User Guide (see SN 8464) and the article ‘Improving victimisation estimates derived from the Crime Survey for England and Wales’. CSEW Historic back series – dataset update (March 2022)From January 2019, all releases of crime statistics using CSEW data adopted a new methodology for measuring repeat victimisation (moving from a cap of 5 in the number of repeat incidents to tracking the 98th percentile value for major crime types). To maintain a consistent approach across historic data, all datasets back to 2001 have been revised to the new methodology. The change affects all incident data and related fields. A “bolt-on” version of the data has been created for the 2001/02 to 2011/12 datasets. This “bolt-on” dataset contains only variables previously supplied impacted by the change in methodology. These datasets can be merged onto the existing BCS NVF and VF datasets. A template ‘merge’ SPSS syntax file is provided, which will need to be adapted for other software formats.For the seventh edition (March 2022), “bolt-on” datasets for the NVF and VF files, example merge syntax and additional documentation have been added to the study to accommodate the latest CSEW repeat victimisation measurement methodology. See the documentation for further details. Main Topics: The dataset includes information from two sections of the survey, the non-victim form questionnaire and the victim form questionnaire. The non-victim form questionnaire gathers respondent-level data: topics covered include fear of crime, perception of antisocial behaviour, victimisation screener questions, performance of the criminal justice system (CJS), experiences of the police, attitudes to the CJS, crime prevention and security, victims and the CJS, demographic information, and technology crime. The victim form contains offence-level data. Up to six different incidents are asked about for each respondent - each of these constitutes a separate victim form and can be matched back to the respondent-level data through the variable ROWLABEL. Topics covered include the nature and circumstances of the incident, details of offenders, security measures, costs, emotional reactions, contact with the CJS and outcomes where known. From October 2016, the self-completion questionnaire modules covering dcovering drug use, drinking behaviour, and domestic violence, sexual victimisation and stalking are subject to Controlled data access conditions - see SN 7280. Multi-stage stratified random sample Face-to-face interview 2004 2005 ADMINISTRATION OF J... ADOLESCENTS ADVICE AGE AGGRESSIVENESS AIRPORTS ALCOHOL USE ALCOHOLISM AMPHETAMINES ANABOLIC STEROIDS ANGER ASSAULT ATTITUDES BICYCLES BURGLARY CANNABIS CAR PARKING AREAS CHILDREN CHRONIC ILLNESS CLUBS COCAINE COMBATIVE SPORTS COMMUNITIES COMMUNITY ACTION COMMUNITY BEHAVIOUR COMMUNITY SAFETY COMMUNITY SERVICE P... COMPUTERS COSTS COUNSELLING COURT CASES CREDIT CARD USE CRIME AND SECURITY CRIME PREVENTION CRIME VICTIMS CRIMINAL COURTS CRIMINAL DAMAGE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION CRIMINAL JUSTICE SY... CRIMINALS CULTURAL GOODS CULTURAL IDENTITY Crime and law enfor... DAMAGE DEBILITATIVE ILLNESS DISCIPLINE DOGS DOMESTIC RESPONSIBI... DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DOORS DRINKING BEHAVIOUR DRIVING DRUG ABUSE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC VALUE ECSTASY DRUG ELECTRONIC MAIL EMERGENCY AND PROTE... EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES EMOTIONAL STATES EMPLOYEES EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT HISTORY ETHNIC CONFLICT ETHNIC GROUPS EVERYDAY LIFE EXPOSURE TO NOISE England and Wales FAMILIES FAMILY MEMBERS FEAR FEAR OF CRIME FINANCIAL COMPENSATION FINANCIAL RESOURCES FIRE FIRE DAMAGE FIRE SAFETY MEASURES GENDER HARASSMENT HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD HEALTH HEALTH PROFESSIONALS HEROIN HOME CONTENTS INSUR... HOME OWNERSHIP HOSPITALIZATION HOURS OF WORK HOUSEHOLD HEAD S EC... HOUSEHOLD HEAD S OC... HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLDS HOUSING AGE HOUSING TENURE INDUSTRIES INFORMATION MATERIALS INFORMATION SOURCES INJURIES INSURANCE CLAIMS INTERNET ACCESS INTERNET USE INTERPERSONAL COMMU... INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT INTERPERSONAL RELAT... INTRUDER ALARM SYSTEMS JUDGES JUDGMENTS LAW JURIES JUVENILE DELINQUENCY LANDLORDS LAW ENFORCEMENT LEARNING DISABILITIES LEAVE LEGAL PROCEDURE LIGHTING LOCAL GOVERNMENT SE... LOCKS LSD DRUG MAGISTRATES MARITAL STATUS MEDIATION MEDICAL CARE MOTOR VEHICLES NEIGHBOURHOODS NEIGHBOURS NEWSPAPER READERSHIP NEWSPAPERS OFFENCES OFFENSIVE TELEPHONE... ONLINE SHOPPING PAYMENTS PERSONAL CONTACT PERSONAL FASHION GOODS PERSONAL IDENTIFICA... PERSONAL SAFETY POLICE OFFICERS POLICE SERVICES POLICING POLITICAL PARTICIPA... PORNOGRAPHY PRISON SENTENCES PROBATION PROSECUTION SERVICE PUBLIC HOUSES PUBLIC OPINION PUNISHMENT QUALIFICATIONS QUALITY OF LIFE RECIDIVISM REFUSE RENTED ACCOMMODATION RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY RESPONSIBILITY RISK ROBBERY SECURITY SYSTEMS SELF EMPLOYED SEXUAL ASSAULT SEXUAL HARASSMENT SEXUAL OFFENCES SHARED HOME OWNERSHIP SICK LEAVE SLEEP DISORDERS SMALL BUSINESSES SMOKING SOCIAL ACTIVITIES L... SOCIAL HOUSING SOCIAL PARTICIPATION SOCIAL SUPPORT SOLVENT ABUSE SORROW SPOUSE S ECONOMIC A... SPOUSES STUDENTS SUBSTANCE USE SUPERVISORY STATUS Social behaviour an... THEFT TIED HOUSING TRAFFIC OFFENCES TRAINING TRAINING COURSES TRANQUILLIZERS UNEMPLOYMENT UNWAGED WORKERS VAGRANTS VISITS PERSONAL VOLUNTARY WELFARE O... WEAPONS WINDOWS WITNESS INTIMIDATION WITNESSES WORKPLACE YOUTH YOUTH COURTS

There were 1,064 public order offences recorded by the police in Northern Ireland between in the 2023/24 reporting year, which was a slight decrease compared with the previous year.

The crime rate in the United Kingdom was highest in England and Wales in 2023/24, at **** crimes per 1,000 people, compared with Scotland which had ** crimes per 1,000 population and Northern Ireland, at **** crimes per 1,000 people. During this time period, the crime rate of England and Wales has usually been the highest in the UK, while Scotland's crime rate has declined the most, falling from **** crimes per 1,000 people in 2002/03, to just **** by 2021/22. Overall crime on the rise In 2022/23 there were approximately **** million crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, with this falling to **** million in 2023/24. Although crime declined quite significantly between 2002/03 and 2013/14, this trend has been reversed in subsequent years. While there are no easy explanations for the recent uptick in crime, it is possible that reduced government spending on the police service was at least partly to blame. In 2009/10 for example, government spending on the police stood at around **** billion pounds, with this cut to between ***** billion and ***** billion between 2012/13 and 2017/18. One of the most visible consequences of these cuts was a sharp reduction in the number of police officers in the UK. As recently as 2019, there were just ******* police officers in the UK, with this increasing to ******* by 2023. A creaking justice system During the period of austerity, the Ministry of Justice as a whole saw its budget sharply decline, from *** billion pounds in 2009/10, to just **** billion by 2015/16. Although there has been a reversal of the cuts to budgets and personnel in the justice system, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the depleted service hard in 2020. A backlog of cases grew rapidly, putting a strain on the ability of the justice system to process cases quickly. As of the first quarter of 2023, for example, it took on average *** days for a crown court case to go from offence to conclusion, compared with *** days in 2014. There is also the issue of overcrowding in prisons, with the number of prisoners in England and Wales dangerously close to operational capacity in recent months.

Part of Release: Official Sub-Ward, Ward and Borough level crime counts. This is the most accurate data available for counting numbers of crimes in London according to official recorded crime types, by the month the offence occurred, and by either borough, ward or sub ward location. The page contains the LSOA level file (Pre-2015 data in the 'archive' file) Click here for corresponding ward level data: Recorded Crime Summary Data for London: Ward Level Click here for corresponding borough level data: Recorded Crime Summary Data for London: Borough Level ‘Sub-Ward data’ counts the number of crimes in each sub ward area of London (Census Lower Super Output Area or LSOA) per month according to crime type. Use this data if you need to analyse crime data at a sub ward level. Because not all crimes can be matched to a specific LSOA area, you should not use this data set to count crimes by ward or borough. For these purposes use one of the other datasets according to the level of geographic precision you need. The categories of crime counts within them may change from time to time. Below is a list of the crime types you can currently extract (*only at borough or ward level): Minor Category: Major Category Murder: ViolenceAgainstThePerson CommonAssault: ViolenceAgainstThePerson OffensiveWeapon: ViolenceAgainstThePerson Harassment: ViolenceAgainstThePerson Otherviolence: ViolenceAgainstThePerson AssaultWithInjury: ViolenceAgainstThePerson WoundingGBH: ViolenceAgainstThePerson PersonalProperty: Robbery BusinessProperty: Robbery BurglaryInADwelling: Burglary BurglaryInOtherBuildings: Burglary TheftOrTakingOfMotor: TheftAndHandling TheftFromMotor: TheftAndHandling MotorInterferenceAndTampering: TheftAndHandling TheftFromShops: TheftAndHandling TheftOrTakingOfPedalCycles: TheftAndHandling OtherTheftPerson: TheftAndHandling OtherTheft: TheftAndHandling HandlingStolenGoods: TheftAndHandling CriminalDamageToADwelling: CriminalDamage CriminalDamageToOtherBldg: CriminalDamage CriminalDamageToMotor: CriminalDamage OtherCriminalDamage: CriminalDamage DrugTrafficking: Drugs PossessionOfDrugs: Drugs OtherDrugOffences: Drugs GoingEquipped: OtherNotifiableOffences OtherNotifiable: OtherNotifiableOffences (NB. no Sexual Offences data is included at LSOA level for disclosure purposes) Each row of data in the data sets contains: *The number of incidents according to the Month Recorded, the specific crime type, and the Location *The Month Recorded *The broad crime type (Major HO category – eg Robbery) *The specific crime type (Minor HO category – eg Robbery: Personal Property) *The Location (Sub –Ward, Ward or borough depending on the data set selected)

The average for 2017 based on 97 countries was 7.4 homicides per 100,000 people. The highest value was in El Salvador: 61.8 homicides per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Japan: 0.2 homicides per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 1990 to 2017. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Number of serious violent offences are recorded by the police and involve the use of a knife or other sharp instrument.

This measure will focus on the number of serious acquisitive crimes against the resident population (per 1000 population)