Crime

There are two main sources of crime statistics in England and Wales. This page shows both, and they often tell different stories.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales asks a large, and randomised, sample of people about crimes they have experienced, regardless of whether they reported it to the police. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) considers it a better measure of long-term trends in crime, because it is less affected by changes in how likely people are to report crime, or in how the police record it.

Police recorded crime counts the crimes reported to and recorded by the police. It covers crimes the survey misses, such as homicide, crimes against businesses and drug offences, and it is the main source of local data.

You can see both sources of crime data in the chart below. According to survey data, crime rates have fallen dramatically since the mid-1990s. Police recorded crime has risen over the past decade, at least partly due to better recording.

One question the crime survey data answers well is, what share of people experienced any form of crime personally in the previous year?

In 1995, around 40% of adults experienced at least one crime (excluding fraud) in the past year. Today it is less than 10%.

Including fraud and computer misuse, around 17% of adults were victims in the year to June 2026.

The fall since the mid-1990s has been broad. According to the survey, domestic burglary is down 84% since 1995, vehicle-related theft by 86%, and violence by 79%.

Many explanations have been suggested. Better security, such as car immobilisers, central locking and stronger door locks, is one of the best supported: it made many common crimes much harder to commit.

Use the menu above the chart to choose a type of crime.

The crime survey began asking about fraud and computer misuse in 2015. They are now more common than all other crimes combined: there was an estimated 4.5 million fraud incidents and 800,000 computer misuse incidents in the year to June 2026.

Including fraud, the survey estimates there were 9.7 million crimes against adults in the year to June 2026. Most fraud is never reported to the police.

The police recorded 5.2 million crimes, excluding fraud, in the year to June 2026.

For some offences, police figures are a reasonable guide to trends. These are offences that are well reported and well recorded, such as homicide, robbery and burglary. For others, changes over time can often reflect differences in reporting and police records.

In the chart below, you can explore data on crime numbers recorded in England and Wales.

Most violent crimes and large thefts have fallen in recent decades. Shoplifting is one of the few crimes that has increased in recent years.

You can see this increase in the chart below.

Because the survey only covers households, police figures are the main measure of shoplifting. Retailers report that most incidents aren't reported to the police, so the true number is likely higher.

The police recorded around 46,000 serious violent and sexual offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year to June 2026.

This is lower than the peak in 2019/20, but still higher than levels in the early 2010s. Most knife crimes are assaults or robberies.

Homicide (or murder) is the most reliably measured crime; almost every count is known to, and recorded by, the police.

There were 522 homicides in England and Wales in 2024/25. That gives a rate of 8.6 per million people — the lowest level since 1977. The rate rose through the 1980s and 1990s and peaked in the early 2000s.

The biggest spikes reflect single events or investigations with many victims, such as the 173 victims of Harold Shipman (counted in 2002/03) and the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster (counted in 2016/17).

Does the UK have higher or lower rates relative to other countries across the world?

Here, we see data for other high-income countries, from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. These figures for the UK may differ slightly from government figures, as the source attempts to standardise data across countries to make them more comparable.

The UK has similar homicide rates to many other countries in Europe. Its rates are lower than in the United States and Canada, but well above some of the lowest countries such as Japan, Italy and Switzerland.

You can compare these rates across more countries in the world on Our World in Data.

The chart below shows homicide rates per million people across the four UK nations.

You can also switch to view this data in absolute numbers.

Only a small share of crimes recorded by the police end with someone being charged. In 2026 it was 8.6%, down from 15.5% in 2015. Charge rates have increased from their low of 5.6% in 2022.

The most common outcome is that the investigation is closed without a suspect being identified. That was the case in 38% of offences in 2026. In one-quarter of cases, a suspect is identified but the victim does not support further action.

Charge rates are especially low for sexual offences: 4.8% of sexual offences and 3.4% of rapes recorded in 2026 had led to a charge when the data was extracted (although some cases are often charged later).

Police recorded crime is the main source of local crime statistics. Across England and Wales, the police recorded 85 crimes for every 1,000 residents in the year to June 2026.

In the map, you can see rates across different police force areas.

Rates were highest in Cleveland and in forces covering large cities, such as West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and London. They are lowest in more rural areas, such as North Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Suffolk.

You can use the menus to compare rates of different types of crime. London's robbery rate, for example, is two and a half times the national average.

Crime rates are generally higher in cities than in other parts of the country.

Among the largest cities in England and Wales, Manchester has the highest rate followed by Nottingham, Bristol and Liverpool.

In the chart, you can compare rates across cities and look at this data for different types of crime.

London's overall crime rate is higher than the national average but lower than several other UK cities. Rates vary enormously between boroughs.

Westminster's rate is more than three times the London average. Outer boroughs such as Richmond upon Thames and Merton have rates lower than the national average.

London stands out for robbery and theft from the person, such as phone snatching, which are concentrated in central boroughs.

Using the chart below, you can explore this data by borough, type of crime, and see how rates have changed over time. Keep in mind that this data is based on police records, not survey data; it may therefore partly reflect changes in peoples' willingness to report crime, and police to record it.

Knife crime is concentrated in a few areas. Cleveland (162 offences per 100,000 people) and London (151) have the highest rates, around twice the England and Wales average of 78, followed by the West Midlands (120).

This chart shows how recorded crime has changed in the four largest police forces in England and Wales.

Most follow the national pattern: falling recorded crime until the mid-2010s, then a rise driven largely by better recording. London's rate has been consistently above the national average, especially for robbery.

Greater Manchester's figures for 2019/20 and 2020/21 are affected by problems with a new IT system, which meant many crimes went unrecorded.

Scotland has its own police service, legal system and crime statistics. Police Scotland recorded 315,357 crimes in the year ending 2026. That's around half of its peak levels in 1991.

Recorded crime fell steadily from the early 1990s to the mid-2010s and has been broadly flat since.

Using the dropdown, you can explore these numbers for specific types of crime.

The map here shows the variation in crime rates across Scotland.

Clicking on any areas will show how rates have changed over time. You can use the menu to compare rates for different types of crime.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded 93,600 crimes in the year ending 2026, according to provisional figures. That was the lowest since the current series began in 1998.

Recorded crime peaked in the early 2000s. Theft and burglary have fallen sharply, while recorded violence has increased.

The map here shows the variation in crime rates across Northern Ireland. Belfast had the highest recorded crime rate, by far, at 88 crimes per 1,000 residents in 2026. That was almost twice the average for Northern Ireland as a whole.

Clicking on any areas will show how rates have changed over time. You can use the menu to compare rates for different types of crime.

Most people believe crime is rising. In 2026, 80% of adults thought crime in the country as a whole had increased in the past few years.

But people are much less likely to say crime has risen in their own area. This pattern — thinking things are getting worse elsewhere — has been a consistent pattern since the survey began asking this question. As has the perception that crime is getting worse nationally.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales interviews around 30,000 adults each year about crimes they have experienced in the previous 12 months. Since it asks the same questions in the same way over time, it gives us a good guide to long-term trends. It does not cover homicide, crimes against businesses, or offences that do not have a direct victim, such as the possession of drugs. One concern that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) notes is that recent years have had a lower response rate, which may make the latest estimates less certain.

Police recorded crime covers a wider range of offences and is available for local areas. But it depends on people reporting crime and on police recording it. Both of these factors can change over time. It lost its status as accredited official statistics in 2014 because of concerns about recording quality.

England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own police forces, laws and statistics, so most figures on this page cover England and Wales only. Crime in Scotland and Northern Ireland is shown separately, and is not directly comparable.