Spotlight
Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2021
What's in the bulletin?
- Patterns of crime in the year ending March 2021 have been significantly affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and government instructions to limit social contact. While there were decreases across a range of individual crime types, particularly theft offences, these were offset by rises in fraud and computer misuse offences, resulting in no change in overall levels of crime.
- The Telephone Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) indicated a 36% increase in fraud and computer misuse offences compared with the year ending March 20191 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).
- Although the TCSEW indicated no change in the total number of violence incidents, the total number of victims of violent crime decreased by 28% compared with the year ending March 2019. This was largely driven by falls in violence where the offender was a stranger.
Sexual offences in England and Wales overview: year ending March 2020
What's in the bulletin?
- The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides the best measure of victimisation and estimated that for the year ending March 2020 there were 773,000 adults aged 16 to 74 years who were victims of sexual assault (including attempts) in the last year, with almost four times as many female victims (618,000) as male victims (155,000).
- Over the past 15 years, the prevalence of sexual assault in the last year among the adult population aged 16 to 59 years has fluctuated between 1.5% and 3.0%, with a decrease in the latest year to 2.2% driven by a reduction in indecent exposure or unwanted sexual touching; however, the prevalence of rape or assault by penetration over this time has remained around 0.5%.
- While the volume of sexual offences recorded by the police has almost tripled in recent years, the latest figures for the year ending March 2020 show a decrease of 0.7% to 162,936 offences compared with the previous year.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) roundup
Catch up on the latest data and analysis related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its impact on our economy and society.
Datasets related to Crime and justice
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Appendix tables : Police recorded offences involving knives or sharp instruments: methodology changes
Selected violent and sexual offences involving a knife or sharp instrument recorded by the police, year ending March 2020 previous method of collection compared to new NDQIS method.
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The nature of violent crime: appendix tables
Violent crime numbers, prevalence and location using annual data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, Home Office Data Hub, and police recorded crime.
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Appendix tables: homicide in England and Wales
Findings from the analyses based on the Homicide Index recorded by the Home Office, including long-term trends, sex of the victim, apparent method of killing and relationship to victim.
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Offences involving the use of weapons: data tables
Data tables relating to offences involving weapons as recorded by police and hospital episode statistics.
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Methodology note on the possible order effect on responses to questions on anti-social behaviour from changes in the Crime Survey for England and Wales questionnaire - Appendix tables
Appendix tables to accompany the methodology note that presents findings from analysis to investigate whether increases in anti social behaviour (ASB) are a result of an order effect caused by changes to the survey instrument or are indicative of a genuine rise in these experiences.
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Modern slavery in the UK - Appendix tables
A range of available data from various organisations relating to modern slavery.
Publications related to Crime and justice
Statistical bulletins
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Perceptions of personal safety and experiences of harassment, Great Britain: 2 to 27 June 2021
Perceptions of safety and experiences of harassment, by personal characteristics, based on the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).
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Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2021
Crime against households and adults using data from police recorded crime and the new Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales. Includes the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on crime and people’s perceptions of crime during the May 2020 to March 2021 interview periods.
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Child abuse in England and Wales: March 2020
Statistics and research on child abuse in England and Wales, bringing together a range of different data sources from across government and the voluntary sector.
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Sexual offences in England and Wales overview: year ending March 2020
Figures on sexual offences from the year ending March 2020 Crime Survey for England and Wales and crimes recorded by police.
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Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2020
Figures on domestic abuse from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, police recorded crime and a number of different organisations.
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Online bullying in England and Wales: year ending March 2020
Estimates of the prevalence and nature of online bullying among children using data from the 10- to 15-year-olds’ Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).
Articles
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The nature of violent crime in England and Wales
A summary of violent crime from the Crime Survey for England and Wales and police recorded crime.
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Homicide in England and Wales
Analyses of information held within the Home Office Homicide Index, which contains detailed record-level information about each homicide recorded by police in England and Wales.
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Child abuse extent and nature, England and Wales
Child abuse in England and Wales, bringing together a range of different data sources from across government and the voluntary sector.
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Drug misuse in England and Wales
An overview of the extent and trends of illicit drug use for the year ending March 2020. Data are from the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
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Modern slavery in the UK
The hidden nature of modern slavery makes producing an accurate prevalence measure difficult. This article explores the issue and brings together data sources linked to modern slavery from a range of organisations.
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Nature of fraud and computer misuse in England and Wales
Summary of the various sources of data for fraud and computer misuse and what these tell us about victims, circumstances and long-term trends.
Methodology related to Crime and justice
- Improving Crime Statistics for England and Wales – progress update July 2021
- Comparability between the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales and the face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales
- User guide to crime statistics for England and Wales: measuring crime during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
- Police recorded offences involving knives or sharp instruments: methodology changes
- Methodology note on the possible order effect on responses to questions on anti-social behaviour from changes in the Crime Survey for England and Wales questionnaire
- Crime and justice methodology
- Child abuse QMI
- Domestic abuse QMI
- Crime in England and Wales QMI
Looking for local statistics?
A handy guide to let you know where to find local statistics.