About this data

Source: Home Office, Police recorded crime open data tables; ONS mid-year population estimates

• Rates are per 1,000 residents, using ONS mid-year population estimates for the local authorities in each force area.
• Greater Manchester Police introduced a new IT system in July 2019, after which many crimes went unrecorded; its figures for 2019/20 and 2020/21 are likely to be undercounts.
• The Metropolitan Police changed its crime recording system in February 2024 and its knife crime recording in April 2024.
• Knife crime figures before April 2019 were collected in a different way and are not directly comparable with later years.
• Police recorded crime counts offences reported to and recorded by the 43 police forces in England and Wales and British Transport Police.
• Changes in recording practice affect the trends. Recording improved substantially after a 2014 inspection found widespread under-recording, which pushed up recorded violence and sexual offences in particular. ONS does not consider police recorded crime a reliable measure of trends in most crime types.
• Figures are for years ending March (e.g. April 2024 to March 2025), plus the latest year to June 2026.

This chart appears in Crime.