Crime in England and Wales: year ending June 2026

Crime against individuals and households has generally decreased over the last 10 years with some notable exceptions, such as fraud. The latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) year ending (YE) June 2026 showed that in the last year there were an estimated:

• 9.7 million incidents of CSEW headline crime; no statistically significant change compared with the YE June 2025 survey (around 9.3 million incidents); CSEW headline crime includes theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violence with or without injury

• 2.7 million theft incidents, no statistically significant change compared with last year's survey (2.8 million incidents); however, there was a 27% increase in other household theft (to around 833,000 incidents) because of increases in theft from outside a dwelling
  

• 4.5 million fraud incidents, an 11% increase compared with last year's survey (4.1 million incidents); this was because of a 13% increase in bank and credit account fraud (to 2.8 million incidents)

• 817,000 computer misuse incidents, a 23% increase compared with last year's survey (663,000 incidents); levels were still 54% lower compared with the YE March 2017 survey (around 1.8 million incidents), which is the earliest comparable year

Experiences of domestic abuse, sexual victimisation, stalking and harassment from the CSEW are presented separately as prevalence estimates in our statistics.

• The YE March 2026 CSEW estimated that 9.6% of people aged 16 years and over had experienced domestic abuse (around 4.7 million people) in the last year; an increase compared with the YE March 2025 survey (7.8%; around 3.8 million people). 

• As a single year's data point, it is too early to say whether this will come to represent a new trend at a higher level of prevalence. 

• The increase was driven by a significant increase in partner abuse (7.9%) compared with the previous year (6.1%); there was no significant difference in family abuse (2.8% in YE March 2026 compared with 2.7% in YE March 2025). 

Latest data from the YE March 2026 CSEW showed that in the last year, among people aged 16 years and over, an estimated: 

• 2.1% (around 1.0 million people) had experienced sexual victimisation 

• 3.9% (around 1.9 million people) had experienced stalking

• 10.0% had experienced some form of harassment in the last year, an increase compared with the YE March 2025 survey (8.3%); repeated harassment (which is closer to the police definition of harassment) also increased from 2.3% in the YE March 2025 survey to 3.5% in the YE March 2026 survey 

Police recorded crime is not always a good indicator of general trends in crime, because of changes in how it is recorded over time. However, it can give more insight into lower-volume, higher-harm offences that are reported to the police, including those that the survey does not cover or capture well. Data for YE June 2026 showed that:

• the number of homicides decreased by 1% (to 512 offences) compared with YE June 2025 (519 offences)

• offences involving knives or sharp instruments fell by 6% (to 48,615 offences) compared with YE June 2025 (51,567 offences)

• offences involving firearms decreased by 8% (to 5,065 offences) compared with YE June 2025 (5,477 offences)

• the number of robbery of personal property offences fell by 7% (to 57,193 offences) compared with the previous year, however, overall robbery increased by 10% (to 88,282 offences) mainly because of improvements to recording practices for robbery of business property

• following a period of increases in shoplifting, there has been a 2% decrease (to 519,516 offences) in YE June 2026 when compared with the previous year (530,336 offences)

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is an interviewer-administered face-to-face survey asking people (aged 16 years and over and resident in households) about their experiences of crime in the past year. It provides a reliable measure of crime trends for the population, and the offence types it covers. This is because it is unaffected by police reporting or recording changes.

The survey excludes crimes against commercial or public sector bodies, tourists, or those living in communal establishments like care homes, student halls of residence, and prisons. The survey does not cover crimes where there is not a specific victim, such as drug possession, and other crimes against the state.

Estimates of CSEW headline crime are reported as both incidents (the estimated number of crimes) and prevalence (the estimated proportion of the population that were victims).

Domestic abuse, sexual victimisation, stalking, and harassment are not included in CSEW headline crime figures. They are collected in a separate self-completion section of the survey (except harassment) to ensure respondent privacy. Prevalence estimates only are reported separately in Section 8: Domestic abuse, Section 9: Sexual victimisation and Section 10: Stalking and harassment. Our latest estimates are for the year ending (YE) March 2026.

Police recorded crime figures cover a wider range of offences and populations, but do not capture all crimes. For example, they include those aged under 16 years, residents of institutions, tourists, crimes against commercial bodies, and crimes against society.

Figures are restricted to a subset of notifiable offences that have been reported to and recorded by the police, as described in the Home Office's Crime Recording Rules for frontline officers and staff guidance. Changes in recording practices have affected the reliability of these figures, particularly for violent crime. This makes them better indicators of police activity than crime trends.

Further information can be found in Section 20: Data sources and quality.

Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime data together give a fuller picture of crimes experienced by individuals and households (Table 1). The CSEW is better for tracking long-term trends in: 

• violence with or without injury 

• theft offences  

• criminal damage  

• fraud  

• computer misuse  

Police data are preferred for: 

• homicide 

• offences involving weapons 

• robbery

Table 1: Number of crime incidents by main crime types, to year ending June 2026

Notes:

1. CSEW data cover people aged 16 years and over. PRC data include crimes against individuals (including children), households, businesses, and society.

Since the mid-1990s, the CSEW has shown long-term decreases in the number of incidents of theft, criminal damage, and violence with or without injury. Fraud and computer misuse estimates are only available from year ending (YE) March 2017 onwards. While the number of fraud incidents has increased over this time period, there has been a general decline in computer misuse incidents. Further information can be found in Table A1 of our Crime in England and Wales: Appendix tables dataset.

There were an estimated 9.7 million incidents of CSEW headline crime in the YE June 2026 survey, no statistically significant change compared with the YE June 2025 survey (9.3 million incidents).

Providing context from a longer time period, CSEW headline crime remains 14% lower than in the YE March 2017 survey (11.2 million incidents), when fraud and computer misuse were first included.

The CSEW also presents prevalence estimates (the proportion of people who were a victim of crime in the last 12 months). Further information can be found in Table A3 of our Crime in England and Wales: appendix tables.

Police recorded crime is not considered a reliable indicator of overall crime trends because of changes in police activity and recording practices. Increases in volume over the last 10 years have been largely influenced by improvements in recording standards. Further information can be found in His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services' How effectively do the police record crime? report.

However, police recorded crime data can give more insight into lower-volume, higher-harm offences reported to the police, including those that the survey does not cover or capture well. This includes homicide, offences involving weapons, and robbery. These figures are reported in Section 4: Homicide, Section 5: Knife and sharp instrument offences, Section 6: Offences involving firearms, and Section 11: Robbery.

Information on the investigative outcomes of crimes recorded by the police can be found in the Home Office's Crime outcomes in England and Wales publication.

The police recorded 512 homicide offences in year ending (YE) June 2026, a 1% decrease from 519 offences in the previous year. This meant the homicide rate was 8.3 per 1 million people in YE June 2026, down from 8.4 in YE June 2025. The number of homicides by knife or sharp instrument fell by 9% to 179 offences during the same period.

The latest analysis on homicide offences held within the Home Office Homicide Index, can be found in our Homicide in England and Wales: year ending March 2025 article. As the Homicide Index takes account of court outcomes, figures from this source will differ from the main police recorded crime collection and are not directly comparable. Figures based on the Homicide Index are accredited official statistics.

Offences involving a knife or sharp instrument (knife-enabled crime) include offences where a knife or sharp instrument has been used to injure a victim, attempt to injure, or used as a threat. This includes offences where the weapon may not have been seen, but was believed to be present, at the time of the offence by the victim or another witness.

Knife-enabled crime recorded by the police decreased by 6% in year ending (YE) June 2026 (to 48,615 offences), compared with YE June 2025 (51,567 offences). Levels remained 12% lower than YE March 2020 (55,170 offences).

Most knife-enabled crimes were categorised as assault with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm (44%) and robbery (39%) offences. Fewer than 1% of knife-enabled crimes were homicide offences (0.4%).

Most knife-enabled crime takes place in metropolitan areas across England and Wales. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) recorded 28% of all knife-enabled offences, the West Midlands Police recorded 7%, and Greater Manchester Police recorded 6%. Within their geographical regions, the MPS recorded a 12% decrease in knife-enabled crime compared with the previous year (to 13,748 offences), West Midlands Police a 14% decrease (to 3,640 offences), and Greater Manchester Police a 16% decrease (to 2,783 offences).

The MPS provide more detailed information in their Knife-enabled crime in London bulletin (PDF, 757KB). For example, within all knife-enabled crime recorded by the MPS in YE June 2026:

• the knife was used to threaten and seen by the victim in 53% of offences

• the knife was used to threaten but not seen by the victim in 22% of offences

• the knife was used to injure the victim in 26% of offences

Total knife-enabled crime figures in monthly MPS reports may not match our official statistics as they are based on data extracted from their crime recording system on different dates.

The latest provisional admissions data for NHS hospitals in England and Wales showed an 8% decrease in the number of admissions for assault by a sharp object in YE June 2026 (to 3,218 admissions), compared with YE June 2025 (3,509 admissions).

Offences involving firearms cover various weapon types, from imitation firearms to handguns and shotguns. Police recorded 5,065 offences in year ending (YE) June 2026, an 8% decrease compared with YE June 2025 (5,477 offences).

Within firearm offences, imitation firearms like replica weapons and BB guns were the most used (39% of offences), followed by handguns (30% of offences).

Firearm offence levels were at their lowest since YE March 2015 (4,911 offences) and were much lower than their peak in YE March 2006 (11,088 offences).

More detailed data on offences involving firearms are available for YE March 2026 in our Offences involving the use of weapons: data tables.

The interviewer-administered parts of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) give the best view of trends in violence, with or without injury, for the household population. It provides a good indication of prevalence where the perpetrator is an acquaintance or a stranger (non-domestic violence). However, it underestimates domestic violence because victims may not disclose it to interviewers. A definition of violence with or without injury appears in Section 19: Glossary.

Our preferred prevalence estimate can be found in Section 8: Domestic abuse. For information on sexual offences, stalking and harassment, see Section 9: Sexual victimisation and Section 10: Stalking and harassment.

In the CSEW year ending (YE) June 2026, people aged 16 years and over experienced an estimated 939,000 incidents of violence with or without injury. There was no statistically significant change compared with the previous year's survey. However, this was 36% lower than estimated a decade ago (1.5 million incidents in YE March 2016) and 79% below its peak in YE December 1995 (4.5 million incidents).

Within CSEW violence with or without injury, there was a 35% decrease in the subcategory of violence without injury (to 481,000 incidents) in YE June 2026 compared with the previous year's survey. This aligns with the long-term trend of falls in violence with or without injury.

In YE June 2026, around 0.7% of people aged 16 years and over reported being a victim of violence with or without injury, where the perpetrator was a stranger; 0.4% reported being a victim where the perpetrator was an acquaintance. There was no statistically significant change compared with the previous year's survey.

While there was a 2% increase in police recorded violence without injury (to 834,095 offences) in YE June 2026 compared with YE June 2025 (819,402 offences), there was a 1% decrease in police recorded violence with injury (to 508,721 offences). This follows large increases in these offences since 2015, mainly because of improvements to recording practices over this period.

More detailed data on violence with or without injury are available for YE March 2026 in our Violent crime appendix tables.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) self-completion module is more reliable for measuring domestic abuse than police recorded crime data. The latest CSEW estimates available are for year ending (YE) March 2026.

Around 9.6% of people aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse in the last year (around 4.7 million people). This represented a statistically significant increase compared with the YE March 2025 survey (7.8%) and was driven by a significant increase in partner abuse (7.9%) compared with the previous year (6.1%). There was no significant difference in experiences of family abuse in the last year in YE March 2026 (2.8%) compared with YE March 2025 (2.7%).

Changes to the questionnaire and its implementation at the start of the survey year have likely affected the scale of the increase in our prevalence estimates. However, while there is always uncertainty around survey estimates, our best assessment is that this increase also includes real change rather than solely being the result of sampling uncertainty and question changes. As a single year's data point, it is too early to say whether this increase will come to represent a new, higher level of prevalence. To help with interpreting uncertainty, we have published confidence intervals alongside the estimates in our Crime in England and Wales: Annual supplementary tables.

Around 11.5% of females and 7.6% of males had experienced domestic abuse in the last year, compared with 9.1% and 6.5%, respectively, in the YE March 2025 survey. Partner abuse increased significantly for both males, from 4.9% to 6.3%, and females, from 7.3% to 9.5%.

The police categorised 827,684 offences as domestic abuse-related in YE June 2026, similar to the previous year (825,141 offences). Of these, 640,118 were violence against the person offences.

Further information and data related to domestic abuse can be found in our Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2025 bulletin.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) self-completion module provides a more reliable measure of trends in sexual victimisation than police recorded crime data. The latest CSEW estimates available are for year ending (YE) March 2026.

An estimated 2.1% of people aged 16 years and over (around 1 million people) experienced sexual victimisation (including attempts) in the last year, as reported in the self-completion module of the CSEW YE March 2026 . This is broken down as 2.8% of women and 1.4% of men. Estimates are based on newly developed CSEW questions and are not comparable with those previously published.

There has been a general increase in police recorded sexual offences over the last decade, largely because of improvements in police recording practices. There was a 4% increase in YE June 2026 (to 218,994 offences) compared with the previous year (210,827 offences).

Within sexual offences, there was a 2% rise in rape offences (to 74,484 offences) compared with YE June 2025 (72,844 offences). Around 34% of all sexual offences recorded by the police in YE June 2026 were rape offences.

Further data related to sexual offences were released on 4 November 2025 in our Sexual offences in England and Wales overview: year ending March 2025 bulletin.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) self-completion module provides a more reliable measure of stalking than police recorded crime data. Our latest estimates from the CSEW YE March 2026 showed an estimated 3.9% of people aged 16 years and over had experienced stalking in the last year (around 1.9 million people).

The CSEW also measures experiences of harassment, including one-off incidents. In the CSEW YE March 2026, of people aged 16 years and over, 10.0% (around 4.9 million people) had experienced some form of harassment in the last year. This represents a statistically significant increase compared with the YE March 2025 survey (8.3%).

Around 7.8% had experienced some form of non-sexual harassment while around 3.9% had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the YE March 2026 survey.

An estimated 3.5% of people experienced repeated harassment in the last year, according to the YE March 2026 survey (around 1.7 million people). This was an increase compared with the YE March 2025 survey (2.3%). Our estimate of repeated harassment is more closely aligned to how the police define and record harassment (a course of conduct or behaviour comprising at least two related events). This is explained in the Home Office's Crime Recording Rules for frontline officers and staff guidance.

Police recorded stalking and harassment increased by 3% to 622,662 offences in YE June 2026 compared with the previous year. This included a 4% rise in stalking (to 142,918 offences) and a 3% increase in harassment (including racially or religiously aggravated harassment) to 330,057 offences.

The combined measure of domestic abuse, sexual victimisation and stalking refers to people who have experienced one or more of these crime types in the last year.

This measure was produced as the main measure for monitoring the UK government's ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade.

The Home Office provided more detail on the use of this combined measure in the cross-government VAWG strategy that was published in December 2025. Further information can be found in our Developing a combined measure of domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking, England and Wales: July 2025 article. This will be updated in December 2026.

Our latest estimates from the YE March 2026 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) showed an estimated 10.9% of people aged 16 years and over (around 5.3 million people) had experienced at least one of the following abuse types in the last year:

• domestic abuse

• sexual victimisation

• stalking

This was 12.8% for females (around 3.2 million) and 8.9% for males (around 2.1 million). Estimates are based on newly developed CSEW questions and are not comparable with those previously published.

Robbery involves the use of force, or threat of force, to attempt or complete a theft (a fuller definition is available in Section 19: Glossary). Police recorded robbery of personal property decreased by 7% (to 57,193 offences) in year ending (YE) June 2026, while overall robbery offences increased by 10% (to 88,282 offences).

A clarification of Home Office Counting Rules with police forces in April 2025 has contributed to an increase in the number of robbery of business property offences during this period (a 67% rise to 31,089 offences). This clarification of the rules made it clear that if an offender enters a retail premises, steals, and either uses or threatens violence against a shop worker, or security guard, or any other person at the time, or uses or threatens violence to escape, then an offence of robbery of business property should be recorded. This clarification is likely to also have had a small effect on reducing the number of shoplifting offences.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated 54,000 robbery incidents in YE June 2026. There was no statistically significant change compared with the previous year's survey. Police data are the preferred measure for robbery offences. This is because the CSEW estimates are subject to year-to-year volatility because of the small number of victims found in the sample.

More detailed data on robbery are available for YE March 2026 in our Property crime tables.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is the best way to track long-term trends in common crimes like theft. Police data, however, can show trends in specific offences that are well reported and well recorded, such as residential burglary, and can highlight emerging trends.

The CSEW for year ending (YE) June 2026 estimated 2.7 million theft incidents, no statistically significant change compared with the previous year's survey. However, this was 27% lower compared with the YE March 2016 survey (3.7 million incidents), and 77% lower than the peak in the YE December 1995 survey (11.6 million incidents).

Within CSEW theft, incidents of other household theft increased by 27% (to around 833,000 incidents) because of increases in theft from outside a dwelling.

The police recorded 1.6 million theft offences in YE June 2026, a 5% decrease compared with the previous year (1.7 million offences).

Police recorded vehicle offences decreased by 7% (to 312,231 offences) during this period and police recorded burglary, which includes both residential and non-residential burglaries, fell by 6% to 222,304 offences. Police recorded theft from the person also fell by 20% to 115,891 offences and was at similar levels to YE March 2020 (114,117 offences).

Following a period of increases in shoplifting, there has been a 2% decrease (to 519,516 offences) in YE June 2026, when compared with the previous year (530,336 offences).

Recent increases in police recorded shoplifting likely reflect both growth in offences and improved reporting resulting from closer engagement between police and retailers. Reporting rates for shoplifting are known to be very low and police are actively encouraging the reporting of all incidents and the submission of supporting evidence, such as CCTV, to strengthen intelligence, identify offenders, and link related offences.

More detailed data on theft are available for YE March 2026 in our Property crime tables.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) year ending (YE) June 2026 estimated around 656,000 incidents of criminal damage. This showed no statistically significant change compared with the YE June 2025 survey. However, this was 46% lower compared with the YE March 2016 survey (1.2 million incidents), and 81% below the peak in the YE December 1995 survey (3.4 million incidents).

Police recorded 435,285 criminal damage offences in YE June 2026, no change compared with the previous year (434,846 offences).

More detailed data on criminal damage are available for YE March 2026 in our Property crime tables.

There were an estimated 4.5 million incidents of fraud in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) year ending (YE) June 2026, an 11% increase compared with the YE June 2025 survey (4.1 million incidents). This was because of a 13% increase in bank and credit account fraud (to 2.8 million incidents).

Levels of overall CSEW fraud have increased by 34% compared with the earliest comparable year, CSEW YE March 2017 (around 3.4 million incidents).

The recorded crime series incorporates fraud offences collated from three reporting bodies. These are Report Fraud and two industry bodies – Cifas and UK Finance – who refer instances of fraud to Report Fraud where their member organisations have been a victim.

There were 348,944 fraud offences reported to Report Fraud directly in YE June 2026, a 15% increase compared with the previous year. There was also an 8% increase in fraud offences referred to Report Fraud from Cifas (to 405,990 offences) during this period. Some of this increase will be because of improvements to the Report Fraud reporting system.

There was also a 79% increase in the number of fraud information reports referred to Report Fraud by UK Finance (to around 1 million reports). This is mainly because of increased engagement with UK Finance members.

More detailed data on fraud are available for YE March 2026 in our Fraud and computer misuse appendix tables.

There were an estimated 817,000 incidents of computer misuse in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) year ending (YE) June 2026, a 23% increase compared with last year's survey (663,000 incidents).

This was because of a 29% increase in unauthorised access to personal information incidents (to 689,000 incidents). Despite this increase, CSEW computer misuse was still around 54% lower than the YE March 2017 survey (around 1.8 million incidents), which is the earliest comparable year.

Report Fraud records computer misuse offences and refers those with good investigative leads to the police. They reported a 9% increase in these offences for YE June 2026 (to 62,241 offences) compared with YE June 2025 (57,245 offences). Some of this increase will be because of improvements to the Report Fraud reporting system.

Computer misuse is also a concern for businesses and organisations. Findings from the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025 to 2026 showed that 19% of businesses and 14% of charities had been victims of at least one cybercrime in the past year. This was similar to the previous year's survey.

More detailed data on computer misuse are available for YE March 2026 in our Fraud and computer misuse appendix tables.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) for year ending (YE) June 2026 showed that an estimated 41.4% of people experienced or witnessed anti-social behaviour (ASB). This was an increase from the previous year (36.7%).

Although most of this increase is thought to be genuine, it was inflated because of changes to how questions in the CSEW were asked from April 2025. Further information can be found in our How a change in the Crime Survey for England and Wales questionnaire in April 2025 affected responses to questions on anti-social behaviour methodology article.

The number of police-recorded ASB incidents, including those by the British Transport Police, remained similar at 1 million incidents. Recent inspections by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) have found that many forces needed to improve how they identify and record anti-social behaviour. Further information can be found in HMICFRS's Policing response to anti-social behaviour report.

Computer misuse

Computer misuse is when fraudsters hack or use computer viruses or malware to disrupt services, obtain information illegally, or extort individuals or organisations.

Conduct crime

Conduct crime is defined as stalking, harassment, or controlling and coercive behaviour, which are offences where there has been unwanted or unwarranted behaviour that amounts to a course of conduct. The course of conduct or behaviour must comprise two or more occasions or events for an offence to be recorded by the police.

Criminal damage

Criminal damage results from any person who, without lawful excuse, destroys or damages any property belonging to another. This includes either:

• intending to destroy or damage any such property

• being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged

Fraud

Fraud involves a person dishonestly and deliberately deceiving a victim for personal gain of property or money, or causing loss or risk of loss to another. Most incidents fall under the legal definition of "fraud by false representation", where a person makes a representation that they know to be untrue or misleading (for example, banking and payment card frauds, and dating scams). The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates cover a broad range of fraud offences including:

• "Bank and credit account fraud", which usually involves falsely obtaining or using personal bank or payment card details to carry out fraudulent transactions; this can involve using a false identity, deceitful credit application, credit or debit cards, cloned cards, cheque books, or online accounts

• "Consumer and retail fraud", which occurs when goods or services were paid for but failed to materialise, were misrepresented at point of sale, or were faulty or stolen; this includes bogus callers, ticketing fraud, phone scams, and computer software service fraud

• "Advance fee fraud", which occurs when a payment is made to fraudsters, who claim to be in a position of authority, to transfer money or for a promise of employment, wealth, or gifts (including lottery scams and inheritance fraud)

• "Other fraud" includes types of fraud not covered elsewhere, such as investment or charity fraud

Overall theft offences

CSEW theft offences include all personal and household crime where items are stolen, including:

• theft from the person

• other theft of personal property

• domestic burglary and other household theft

• vehicle-related theft and bicycle theft

Robbery

Robbery is an offence in which force, or the threat of force, is used either during or immediately before a theft or attempted theft. "Mugging" is an informal term for robbery. In this bulletin, we use the term "robbery".

Sexual victimisation

Sexual victimisation captures a range of sexual offences including rape or assault by penetration (including attempts), being forced to penetrate, indecent exposure, unwanted sexual touching, and sharing or receiving intimate images.

Violence with or without injury

Violence with or without injury covers a range of offence types including:

• wounding – an incident that results in severe or less serious injury (for example, cuts, severe bruising, chipped teeth, bruising, scratches requiring medical attention, or any more serious injuries)

• assault with minor injury – an incident where the victim was punched, kicked, pushed, or jostled, and the incident resulted in minor injury to the victim (for example, scratches or bruises)

• violence without injury – an incident (or attempt) where the victim was punched, kicked, pushed, or jostled, but resulted in no injury

More information and further definitions can be found in Section 5: Offence types of our User guide to crime statistics for England and Wales: March 2026.

Crime statistics are based on the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime. CSEW estimates are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in October 2024. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".

Police recorded crime data and recorded fraud and computer misuse are not designated as accredited official statistics and are published as official statistics. Their accreditation was removed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in January 2014 following an assessment that found evidence that the quality and consistency of the underlying data may not be reliable.

Crime Survey for England and Wales

The CSEW measures selected crimes experienced by people in the 12 months before their interview, including incidents that were not reported to the police. However, it does not cover crimes against businesses or people living outside private households, and it does not include all types of crime.

The interviewer-administered questions give headline estimates of CSEW crime and include theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violence with or without injury. Domestic violence and sexual victimisation are also covered, but because of underreporting in interviews, these are better captured via a self-completion section and reported separately.

While sexual victimisation estimates from the interviewer-administered questions are excluded from CSEW headline crime, domestic violence is included as it is a form of violence with or without injury.

The CSEW uses a sample, not the whole population, so estimates have some uncertainty and are not precise figures. This affects how changes in estimates should be interpreted. More information is available on how we measure and communicate uncertainty for our surveys.

It tracks long-term crime trends from year ending (YE) December 1981 to YE June 2026. The CSEW is better for tracking long-term trends than police recorded crime because it is unaffected by changes in reporting or recording practices. The survey's methods have remained comparable since the CSEW began in 1981. The latest figures are based on interviews between July 2025 and June 2026, covering crimes that occurred between July 2024 and May 2026.

Domestic abuse, sexual victimisation, stalking and harassment are not included in CSEW headline crime figures. They are collected in a separate self-completion section of the survey (except harassment) to ensure respondent privacy. Survey questions on sexual victimisation have been redeveloped to improve measurement. Therefore, our latest estimates are not comparable with previously published measures.

More information on the Crime Survey for England and Wales can be found in Section 2 of our User guide to crime statistics in England and Wales: March 2026.

Police recorded crime

The Home Office collects crime data from the 43 police forces in England and Wales, plus the British Transport Police, covering offences on the notifiable list. Figures in this bulletin represent a snapshot taken on 17 September 2026, covering data up to June 2026.

Police recorded crime covers a broader range of offences and populations than the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). It is the main source for local crime statistics and is effective for tracking well-reported and well-recorded crimes, including lower-volume offences like homicide. It also provides timely insights into emerging trends.

However, it excludes unreported or unrecorded crimes. Trends may be influenced by changes in recording practices, police activity, and public reporting, making long-term comparisons difficult. Inconsistencies in recording quality across forces and over time have particularly affected violent crime data over the past decade. Further information can be found in His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services' How effectively do the police record crime? report.

To improve consistency, the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS) tool now flags offences involving knives, domestic abuse, child sexual abuse, and online crime across four police collections. NDQIS is available to 42 forces, with usage details in the relevant datasets.

Recorded fraud and computer misuse

The national cybercrime and fraud reporting system launched by the City of London Police on 4 December 2025, Report Fraud, replaced Action Fraud and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. It combines reports made through its public-facing service with fraud reports from Cifas and UK Finance.

Recorded fraud and computer misuse are not reliable measures of overall crime levels or trends because many incidents are not reported. Data on fraud against businesses and organisations are based on reports from Cifas and UK Finance member organisations only, and changes in membership can affect comparability over time.

Under the new system, Cifas shares all information reports that could amount to a crime, with reports recorded as crimes where they meet Home Office Counting Rules. UK Finance reports continue to be used as information reports to support investigations and law enforcement. The redesigned system provides a more accurate reflection of the victim reporting journey but has also changed how offences are recorded. As a result, year-on-year changes may reflect recording changes as well as underlying trends.

More information on police recorded crime can be found in Section 3 of our User guide to crime statistics for England and Wales: March 2026.

Further quality and methodology information is available in our Crime in England and Wales quality and methodology information (QMI) report.