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Official crime figures
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On this page:
• Explanatory note >
• Police figures vs British Crime
Survey (BCS) >
• Latest annual crime figures
(July 2006) >
• Latest quarterly crime figures
(January 2007) >
• Annual crime figures (July 2005) >
• Annual crime figures (July 2004) >
• British Crime Survey
(October 2000) >
• Violent Crime Overview (January
2006) >
Explanatory note
This page contain excerpts from summaries of the official
crime reports published by the UK Home Office. The purpose
is to provide an easy reference when comparing media reports
on crime to official figures. Elsewhere
we've demonstrated that some media (eg BBC News Online)
consistently misrepresent the crime figures (usually by headlining
cherry-picked "rises" in crime).
For further details of official figures (and the official
reports do contain a lot of detail) click on the links below
in each section, or visit the Home
Office's online index to crime reports.
Police figures Vs British Crime
Survey (BCS)
Since 2001/2002, the official crime reports have combined
police recorded crime figures with the results of the
British Crime Survey (one of the world's largest and
most respected crime surveys).
The first of the combined reports, Crime
in England and Wales 2001/02, presents these two
series of figures as being complementary and of together providing
"a better picture of crime than could be obtained from
either series alone". It goes on to describe the differences
between police and BCS figures:
"Police statistics provide a good
measure of trends in well-reported crimes, are an important
indicator of police workload, and can be used for local crime
pattern analysis. For the crime types it covers, the BCS [British
Crime Survey] can provide a better reflection of the true
extent of crime because it includes crimes that are not reported
to the police. The BCS count also gives a better indication
of trends in crime over time because it is unaffected by changes
in levels of reporting to the police, and in police recording
practices." [From the preface]
Latest annual crime figures (July
2006)
The following is quoted from: Crime
in England and Wales 2005/06 [published July 2006]
• Since peaking in 1995, BCS [British Crime Survey-measured]
crime has fallen by 44 per cent, representing 8.4 million
fewer crimes, with domestic burglary and vehicle crime falling
by over a half (59% and 60% respectively) and violent crime
falling by 43 per cent during this period. On the recorded
crime side, both domestic burglary and theft of and from vehicles
have continued to fall over the same period.
• The risk of becoming a victim of crime has fallen
from 40 per cent at its peak in 1995 to 23 per cent according
to BCS interviews in 2005/06, representing just over six million
fewer victims. This remains at the lowest level recorded since
the BCS began in 1981.
• Property crime accounts for the majority of both BCS
and recorded crime (77 and 73 per cent respectively).
• Violent crime has remained stable according to BCS
interviews in 2005/06 compared with 2004/05. Recorded crime
statistics show a two per cent increase in violent crime in
2005/06 compared with 2004/05.
• Almost half of the violent crimes recorded by the
BCS and of violence against the person offences recorded by
the police involved no injury to the victim. The British Crime
Survey (BCS) shows that crime is stabilising after long periods
of reduction. Police recorded crime shows a one per cent reduction
in the number of crimes recorded during 2005/06, following
increases after the introduction of the National Crime Recording
Standard (NCRS) in April 2002.
Latest quarterly crime
figures (January 2007)
The following is quoted from: Crime
in England and Wales: Quarterly Update to September 2006
[published 25/1/07]
• The risk of being a victim of crime as measured by
the British Crime Survey (BCS), at 24 per cent, has increased
by one percentage point compared with the year to September
2005 (23%). This is still considerably lower than the peak
of 40 per cent recorded by the survey in 1995.
• The number of crimes recorded by the police fell by
three per cent for the period July to September 2006 compared
with the same quarter a year earlier.
• There was no statistically significant change in BCS
violent crime for interviews in year ending to September 2006
compared with the previous year. Recorded violent crime for
July to September 2006 showed a one per cent decrease over
the same period in 2005.
• BCS vehicle thefts and domestic burglary remained
stable compared with interviews in the year to September 2005.
In the latest quarter, recorded domestic burglary fell by
three per cent, and recorded vehicle crime by four per cent.
• BCS interviews in the 12 months to September 2006
showed an 11 per cent increase in the number of incidents
of vandalism. While recorded crime showed a 1 per cent rise
in criminal damage.
• In the year to September 2006, there were a provisional
9,728 firearm offences, 14 per cent fewer than the previous
year.
• BCS interviews showed that there was no change in
the overall measure of levels of perceived anti-social behaviour,
however individual strands showed some change. Levels of worry
about burglary, car crime and violent crime have remained
unchanged.
Annual crime figures (July 2005)
The following is quoted from: Crime
in England and Wales 2004/05 [published July 2005]
• Since peaking in 1995, BCS [British Crime Survey-measured]
crime has fallen by 44 per cent, representing 8.5 million
fewer crimes, with vehicle crime and burglary falling by over
a half (both by 57%) and violent crime falling by 43 per cent
during this period.
• Violent crime has decreased by 11 per cent according
to BCS interviews in 2004/05 compared with 2003/04. Recorded
crime statistics show a seven per cent increase in violent
crime in 2004/05 compared with 2003/04, although this increase
is partly due to the continuing effect of recording changes.
• The risk of becoming a victim of crime has fallen
from 40 per cent in 1995 to 24 per cent according to BCS interviews
in 2004/05, representing almost six million fewer victims.
This is the lowest level recorded since the BCS began in 1981.
• According to the BCS, the proportion of people believing
that crime has increased over the past two years, both in
their local area (42%) and in the country as a whole (61%),
has fallen compared with the previous year.
• Levels of worry about car crime have fallen compared
with the previous year, levels of worry about burglary and
violent crime have now stabilised after recent falls.
• The overall level of perceived antisocial behaviour
has remained stable over the last year. One in six people
currently perceive a high level of disorder in their local
area (17%).
Annual crime figures (July 2004)
The following is quoted from: Crime
in England and Wales 2003/04 [published July 2004]
Police statistics provide a good measure of trends in well-reported
crimes, and are an important indicator of police workload.
They can also be used for local crime pattern analysis. For
the offences it covers, and the victims within its scope,
the BCS [British Crime Survey] gives a more complete estimate
of crime in England and Wales since it covers both unreported
and unrecorded crime and provides more reliable data on trends.
• Since the peak in 1995, BCS crime has fallen by 39
per cent, with vehicle crime and burglary falling by roughly
half and violent crime falling by over a third during this
period.
• The risk of becoming a victim of crime has fallen
from 40 per cent in 1995 to 26 per cent according to BCS interviews
in 2003/04, the lowest level recorded since the BCS began
in 1981.
• According to the BCS, there has been a fall in the
proportion of people believing that crime has increased over
the past two years, both in their local area and in the country
as a whole, compared with the previous year.
• Levels of worry about the main crime types have fallen
compared with the previous year, as has the level of perceived
antisocial behaviour. The latter has fallen from 21% to 16%.
British Crime Survey (October
2000)
The following is quoted from: The
2000 British Crime Survey [published October 2000]
• The BCS [British Crime Survey] shows a fall between
1997 and 1999 in nearly all the offences it measures. Burglary
fell by 21% and vehicle-related theft by 15%. Robbery increased
by 14% and theft from the person by 4%, but neither of these
increases was statistically significant.
• Overall there was a 10% fall between 1997 and 1999
in all the crimes the BCS measures. The BCS crime count also
fell 15% between 1995 and 1997.
• There was similar 10% fall between 1997 and 1999 in
BCS crimes that can be compared to police recorded offences.
The estimated fall in comparable police recorded crimes was
5%.
• The greater decrease in BCS crime than in police figures
is consistent with the police recording more of the incidents
reported to them in 1999 than in 1997.
Violent Crime Overview (January
2006)
The following is quoted from: Violent
Crime Overview, Homicide and Gun Crime 2004/2005
[published January 2006]
• Between 1995 and 2004/05 British Crime Survey (BCS)
violent crime has fallen by 43 per cent and the composition
of violent crime has changed. The decrease is mainly due to
large falls in domestic violence (-59%) and acquaintance violence
(-54%), while stranger violence has remained relatively stable.
In 1995 the largest component of violent crime was acquaintance
violence (43%), but in 2004/05 the largest component was stranger
violence (35%).
• The change in composition of violent crime between
1995 and 2004/05 has resulted in changes in the nature of
violence. For example, a smaller proportion of crimes took
place in the home in 2004/05 and a greater proportion took
place in the street, compared with 1995.
• Between 1995 and 2004/05 the number of BCS violent
crimes where the victim believed the offender(s) to be under
the influence of alcohol also dropped, by about a third. In
2004/05 the victim believed the offender(s) to be under the
influence of alcohol in almost half of all BCS violent crimes.
• Victims had consumed alcohol prior to the offence
in 30 per cent of BCS 2004/05 violent crimes. Neither the
victim nor the offender had consumed alcohol in 38 per cent
of incidents.
• Young men aged 16 to 24 were most at risk of violence
according to 2004/05 BCS interviews: 14.6 per cent had been
a victim of violent crime once or more in the last year compared
with 3.6 per cent of all adults.
• According to the 2004 Offending Crime and Justice
Survey (OCJS), 16 per cent of 10 to 25 year-olds committed
a violent offence in the year prior to interview. Of these
offences, almost half were committed because the offender
was annoyed or upset by someone.
• Forty-one per cent of violent incidents were not considered
to be a crime by the victim. In just over half of these cases
(23% overall) the victim described the offence as "just
something that happens".
• Nearly half of all violent offences captured by the
BCS and recorded by the police in 2004/05 involved no injury
to the victim, although such crimes may still be very serious
in nature and may have a significant impact on the victim.
See also the later supplementary report,
Homicides,
Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2005/2006
(published January 2007).
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