Crime in England and Wales: year ending December 2022

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates for the year ending December 2022 use 12 months of data collected from face-to-face interviews between January 2022 and December 2022. Comparing the latest year with the year ending March 2020 gives us a comparable estimate to the period before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It is important to note that because of the Crime Survey methodology, the latest figures include some experiences of crime that took place during social restrictions [note 1].

The latest figures from the CSEW for those interviewed in the year ending December 2022 showed that compared with the pre-coronavirus pandemic year ending March 2020, total crime decreased by 12%. Across the same period, estimates for individual crime types showed that:

• overall theft decreased by 20%. The largest reduction was seen in theft from the person (44%), but falls were also seen in “other theft of personal property” (31%), domestic burglary (23%) and vehicle-related theft (21%)
• criminal damage decreased by 24%
• fraud returned to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels (no significant change); this suggests previous increases in fraud may have been specific to the coronavirus pandemic period, rather than a sustained change in trends
• despite no significant change in fraud overall, there was a 654% increase in advance fee fraud (from 60,000 to 454,000 offences), while bank and credit account fraud decreased by 14% (to 2.1 million offences)

Police recorded crime does not tend to be a good indicator of general trends in crime, however, for some crime types it can give more insight into lower-volume but higher-harm crimes, including those that the survey does not cover or capture well. For such crimes, there have generally been increases in the last year (since the removal of social restrictions), though they remain below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels:

• police recorded robbery offences were 20% lower than the year ending March 2020 (pre-coronavirus pandemic), however there was a 15% increase compared with the year ending December 2021 during which social restrictions were still in place
• police recorded offences involving knives or sharp instruments decreased by 9% to 49,265 offences compared with the year ending March 2020 (54,230 offences), but there has been a 6% increase since the year ending December 2021 (46,334 offences)
• the number of homicides decreased by 11% to 632 offences compared with the year ending March 2020 (708 offences). Since the year ending December 2021, there was a 5% decrease to 666 offences. Homicide is a relatively low-volume offence therefore the numbers will fluctuate
• the number of offences involving firearms decreased by 5% (to 6,193 offences) compared with the year ending March 2020 (6,511 offences), but there was an 11% increase compared with the year ending December 2021 (5,581 offences); this increase is largely attributed to an increase in imitation firearms, which rose 22% since the year ending December 2021, and is now the most prevalent principal weapon

Police recorded sexual offences have risen by 19% to 189,731 offences compared with the pre-coronavirus pandemic year ending March 2020. When interpreting police recorded sexual offences, it is important to note that these figures may reflect several factors, including the impact of high-profile cases and campaigns on victims’ willingness to report both recent and historical incidents. For a subset of forces supplying data to the Home Office Data Hub, 21% of all sexual offences in the year to December 2022 had taken place over a year prior to the incident being recorded.

From data gathered by both police recorded crime and the CSEW to December 2022, it appears too early to say whether the decreases seen in most crime types occurring during the coronavirus pandemic will come to represent a sustained change in long-term trends. The CSEW remains the best estimate of long-term trends, although it is also important to note that additional caution must be taken when using these data. Police recorded crime data are not a National Statistic and CSEW estimates have been temporarily suspended of their National Statistics status, for more information see the Office for Statistics Regulation’s Temporary suspension of National Statistics status for estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales note.

Notes for main points:

1. The year ending December 2022 refers to 12 months of data collection between January 2022 and December 2022. Data collected during this period include experiences of crime in the 12 months before the interview month, and therefore include crimes committed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and as early as January 2021. Further information can be found in Section 2.4 of our User guide to crime statistics for England and Wales: March 2020 methodology.

According to Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates for the year ending December 2022, adults aged 16 years and over experienced 9 million offences. This was a 12% decrease compared with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic year ending March 2020 (10.2 million offences).

Since the mid-1990s, there have been long-term falls in overall CSEW crime estimates (Figure 1). Long-term trends also vary by crime types.

For the crime types and population it covers, the face-to-face CSEW is a better indicator of long-term trends than police recorded crime. It is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police or police recording practices.

Likelihood of victimisation

The latest CSEW year ending December 2022 estimates showed that approximately 8 in 10 adults did not experience any of the crimes asked about in the CSEW (Figure 2). The likelihood of being a victim of crime varied by crime type, with fraud having the highest likelihood of victimisation (6%), followed by vehicle-related theft (3%).

Trends in police recorded crime

Police recorded crime levels in England and Wales during 2020 and 2021 were substantially affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and restrictions on social contact. In line with CSEW comparisons, police recorded crime levels are compared with pre-coronavirus pandemic levels in the year ending March 2020. Comparisons with the year ending December 2021 show patterns in crime since the easing of social restrictions.

Police recorded crime in England and Wales in the year ending December 2022 exceeded pre-coronavirus pandemic levels. The 6.6 million crimes recorded were 11% higher compared with the year ending March 2020 (6 million offences) excluding Devon and Cornwall Police. This overall increase was largely influenced by rises in the offence categories, which are most subject to changes in reporting and recording practices. Therefore, these estimates should be treated with caution as they are unlikely to reflect a genuine increase in crime.

In the year ending December 2021, police recorded crime fell to 5.9 million offences, influenced by national lockdowns and restrictions to social contact during this period. The impact that government public health restrictions had during the coronavirus pandemic on levels of police recorded crime can be clearly seen when looking at quarterly figures (see Figure 3). Police recorded crime has increased by 11% in the year ending December 2022 compared with the year ending December 2021. All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

Information on case outcomes can be found in the Home Office's Crime outcomes in England and Wales publication.  

Crime Survey and police recorded crime data can be used together to develop a more complete picture of crime (Table 1). The CSEW data showed a decrease in theft offences compared with the year ending March 2020. Police recorded crime showed decreases in individual theft offences, such as Robbery, compared with the year ending March 2020 (excluding Devon and Cornwall Police).

Table 1: Overview of main crime types

England and Wales

Notes:

1. Police recorded crime (PRC) and CSEW data for the year ending December 2022 are not designated as National Statistics.
2. Figures for Devon and Cornwall Police are not included in the police recorded totals for the years ending March 2020 and December 2021 and 2022.
3. CSEW data relate to adults aged 16 years and over. PRC data relate to crimes against individuals (including children), households, businesses and society.
4. Data on knife or sharp instrument offences exclude GMP for the whole timeseries back to the year ending March 2011.

5. Estimates for theft, domestic burglary and vehicle-related theft offences are statistically significant at the 5% level. PRC figures are not subject to significance testing as they are not estimates but counts.

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The police recorded 632 homicide offences in the year ending December 2022, an 11% decrease compared with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic year ending March 2020 (708 offences) [note 1]. More recent year-on-year comparisons show a fall of 5% since the year ending December 2021 (666 offences). All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

The rate of homicide in the population for the year ending December 2022 remained low, and the same as the year ending December 2021 at 11 per 1 million people, compared with 12 per 1 million people in the year ending March 2020.

Of all recorded homicides in the year ending December 2022, the proportion of homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was the method of killing was 41%. This was a small increase compared with the year ending March 2020 (37%), and similar to the year ending December 2021 (42%). All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

For the latest analysis on homicide offences held within the Home Office Homicide Index, see our Homicide in England and Wales: year ending March 2022 article.

Notes for homicide:

1. The year ending March 2020 included the incident where 39 migrants were found dead inside a lorry.

Police recorded crime provides a better measure than the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) of higher-harm but less common types of violence, such as those involving a knife or sharp instrument (knife-enabled crime).

Knife-enabled crime recorded by the police in the year ending December 2022 remained 9% lower (49,265 offences) than pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels in the year ending March 2020 (54,230 offences). This is mainly because the number of knife-enabled robbery offences was 23% lower in the year ending December 2022 (18,553 offences) than in the year ending March 2020 (24,133 offences). Despite the overall decrease in knife-enabled crime recorded by the police, knife-enabled threats to kill increased by 22% (to 5,942 offences) in the year ending December 2022 compared with the year ending March 2020 (4,861 offences). All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

Levels of knife-enabled crime fell to 46,334 offences in the year ending December 2021 because of government restrictions on social contact. It has increased by 6% in the year ending December 2022 (to 49,265 offences) compared with the year ending December 2021, while remaining below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels. Knife-enabled homicide decreased by 9% to 256 offences, down from 280 offences in the year ending December 2021. All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

The latest increase of 6% (excluding Devon and Cornwall police) in knife or sharp instrument offences compared with the year ending December 2021 can be broken down by Police Force Area (PFA) [note 1]. Metropolitan, West Midlands and Greater Manchester PFAs were the three areas with the highest volume of knife-enabled crime. Compared with the year ending December 2021, knife or sharp instrument offences recorded by the Metropolitan police increased by 14% to 12,008 offences in the year ending December 2022. The West Midlands PFA saw an increase of 23% to 4,938 offences, and Greater Manchester PFA decreased by 5% to 3,386 offences. Compared with the pre-coronavirus pandemic year ending March 2020, knife-enabled crime recorded in the Metropolitan PFA decreased by 18% and in the West Midlands PFA it decreased by 2%. In contrast, knife-enabled crime recorded in the Greater Manchester PFA increased by 6%.

Police recorded “possession of article with a blade or point” [note 2] offences were 17% higher in the year ending December 2022 (26,514 offences) than the year ending March 2020 (22,730 offences). This was a 15% increase compared with the year ending December 2021 (23,017 offences). This could have been influenced by targeted police action to tackle knife crime. All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

The Home Office and police forces have continued to roll out a new methodology for identifying recorded offences involving knives or sharp instruments (knife-enabled crime). Currently 39 forces have switched to the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS) data collection methodology. Work continues in moving the remaining five forces to the new methodology. Estimates in this release include a combination of both new and old data collection methods.

For more information, including the differences in data collection methods, please see our Police recorded offences involving knives or sharp instruments: methodology changes and our Improving data collection for knife enabled crime in England and Wales blog.

Other sources of data

The latest provisional admissions data for NHS hospitals in England and Wales showed a continued decrease in the number of admissions for assault by a sharp object in the year ending December 2022 (3,799 admissions). This was 20% lower than the pre-coronavirus pandemic year ending March 2020 (4,769 admissions) and 8% below the year ending December 2021 (4,108 admissions).

Data related to stop and searches can be found in the Home Office's Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics publication.

Notes for knife or sharp instrument offences

1. Data cannot be compared across all police forces because of changes in data collection methods. Currently 39 police forces have switched to the National Data Quality Improvement Service (NDQIS) data collection method. Four remaining police forces and the British Transport Police are still submitting knife or sharp instrument offences data through a special collection (Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia, and Gloucestershire). For more information, please see our Police recorded offences involving knives or sharp instruments: methodology changes.
2. Offences of “possession of an article with a blade or point” are covered separately by a specific recorded crime category, which is the specific crime of possessing an article with a blade or point illegally.

The police recorded 6,193 offences involving firearms [note 1] in the year ending December 2022 (Figure 6). This was a 5% decrease compared with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic year ending March 2020 (6,511 offences). Levels have increased by 11% compared with the year ending December 2021 (5,581 offences) during which social restrictions were still in place. All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

Offences involving firearms can be broken down by type of weapon. In the year ending December 2022, all firearms offences remained below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, except for those using imitation firearms, which rose 49% to 2,196 from 1,478 offences, and those in which the type of firearm was unidentified, which increased by 6% to 1,020 from 959 offences compared with the year ending March 2020 [note 2]. The largest decreases in the volume of offences were seen in the use of rifles (to 49 offences), shotguns (to 442 offences) and other firearms (to 539 offences). This represents a 31% decrease for rifles, a 30% decrease for shotguns and a 30% fall for other firearms compared with the year ending March 2020 [note 3]. All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

For data relating to offences involving weapons, see our Offences involving the use of weapons: data tables. For data relating to offences involving firearms, see our Crime in England and Wales: Other related tables.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides the best picture of the overall trend in violent crime. Estimates from the CSEW for the year ending December 2022 showed that there were 1.1 million violent offences. There was no significant change compared with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic year ending March 2020 (1.2 million offences). However, there remains a general downward trend in violent crime since its peak in 1995. Across all violent offences, wounding decreased by 49% (to 175,000 offences) in the year ending December 2022 compared with the year ending March 2020 (341,000 offences).

Overall, police recorded 2.1 million offences of violence against the person in the year ending December 2022. This was a 20% rise compared with the pre-coronavirus pandemic year ending March 2020 (1.7 million offences) and a 5% rise compared with the year ending December 2021 (2 million offences). Violence with injury was 6% higher (558,886 offences) than levels recorded in the year ending March 2020 (525,298 offences). In addition, violence without injury increased by 14% to 811,873 offences compared with the year ending March 2020 (713,739 offences). All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

There were 697,632 stalking and harassment offences in the year ending December 2022. This was a 44% increase compared with the year ending March 2020 (484,822) but there was no change in comparison to the year ending December 2021 (excluding Devon and Cornwall Police). There have generally been increases since the year ending March 2012, though this was partially influenced by changes in Home Office Counting Rules and improved recording practices across this period.

In April 2022, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) launched an experimental module with the aim to fill some important evidence gaps around the experience of harassment. The module captures single incidents of harassment as well as those committed as part of a course of behaviour, and therefore we cannot provide an estimate of the number of incidents at this stage.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides a more reliable measure of long-term trends in domestic abuse and sexual offences than police recorded crime data.

Domestic abuse

The latest domestic abuse estimates from the CSEW are for the year ending March 2022, these showed that 6% of adults aged 16 to 59 years experienced domestic abuse. There was no significant change compared with the year ending March 2020 (6%), the last time the data were collected.

On the return of face-to-face CSEW interviewing in October 2021, the upper age limit of respondents completing the self-completion modules was removed (it was previously increased from 59 years to 74 years in March 2017). The CSEW for the year ending March 2022 estimated that 5% of adults aged 16 years and over had experienced domestic abuse.

The police flagged 887,112 recorded offences as domestic abuse-related in the year ending December 2022. This represented a 14% increase from 777,726 recorded offences in the year ending March 2020. This included 32,404 sexual offences flagged as domestic abuse-related in the year ending December 2022, a 31% increase compared with the year ending March 2020 (24,743 offences). This also included 701,497 violence-against-the-person offences flagged as domestic abuse-related in the year ending December 2022, a 15% rise compared with the year ending March 2020 (610,024 offences). Some of this continued increase may reflect increased reporting by victims over the last few years. All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

Further information and data related to domestic abuse can be found in our Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2022 bulletin. The next Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview is due to be published in November 2023.

Sexual offences

The latest estimates from the CSEW are for the year ending March 2022, these showed that 3% of adults aged 16 to 59 years had experienced sexual assault (including attempted offences) in the last year. There was no significant change compared with the year ending March 2020 (2%). The CSEW for the year ending March 2022 estimated that 2% of adults aged 16 years and over had experienced sexual assault (including attempted offences) in the last year.

High levels of non-reporting combined with changes in reporting trends can have a significant impact on sexual offences recorded by the police. The Crime Survey can provide important context to the police figures, for example CSEW estimates showed that fewer than one in six victims of rape or assault by penetration reported the crime to the police (Table 13 of our Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration, England and Wales dataset). The CSEW also indicates that 57% of victims of rape or assault by penetration (including attempts) since the age of 16 years stated that the perpetrator was a partner or ex-partner (for more information see our Sexual offences prevalence and victim characteristics, England and Wales dataset).

In the year ending December 2022, there were 189,731 sexual offences recorded by the police, which was a 19% increase from the year ending March 2020 (Figure 8) (excluding Devon and Cornwall Police). Within these figures, the number of recorded sexual offences was lower during periods of lockdown but there have been substantial increases since April 2021.

Of all sexual offences recorded by the police in the year ending December 2022, 35% (67,169) were rape offences (a subcategory of sexual offences). This was a 17% increase from 57,586 in the year ending March 2020. Other sexual offences increased by 21% to 122,562 offences compared with the year ending March 2020 (101,494). All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

The latest sexual offences figures may reflect several factors, including the impact of high-profile incidents, media coverage, and campaigns on people’s willingness to report both recent and historical incidents to the police, as well as a potential increase in the number of victims. For a subset of forces supplying data to the Home Office Data Hub, 21% of all sexual offences, and 24% of rape offences, in the year to December 2022 had taken place over a year prior to the incident being recorded.

Further data related to sexual offences can be found in our Sexual offences in England and Wales overview: year ending March 2022 bulletin.

CSEW data on the prevalence of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and stalking for the six months ending March 2022 can be found in Tables F15 to F19 of our Crime in England and Wales: Other related tables, year ending March 2022.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is the most reliable indicator for long-term trends in the more common types of crime experienced by the general population, such as theft. However, police recorded crime data can give reliable indications of trends in some offences involving theft (for example, burglary) that are well-reported to the police and can provide a better measure of short-term trends.

There were 2.6 million incidents of theft estimated by the CSEW for the year ending December 2022. This was a 20% decrease compared with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic year ending March 2020 (3.3 million offences). This large fall was seen across most sub-categories, including theft from the person (44%), “other theft of personal property” (31%), domestic burglary (23%) and vehicle-related theft (21%).

“Neighbourhood” crime, defined in the Home Office's Beating crime plan, includes robbery and selected theft offences (theft from the person, domestic burglary, and vehicle-related theft). The CSEW estimated that there was a 26% decrease in the number of “neighbourhood” crime incidents compared with the year ending March 2020.

As with CSEW data, police recorded theft offences in the year ending December 2022 remained below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels. Overall, theft offences were 13% lower (1.6 million offences) than the year ending March 2020 (1.9 million offences). This included a 28% decrease in all burglary offences (to 271,519 offences) [note 1]. However, levels of theft have increased in the last year after restrictions related to the third national lockdown were lifted. There was a 19% increase in total theft compared with the year ending December 2021 (1.4 million offences). This rise was seen across most subcategories, including theft from the person (45%), all other theft offences (26%) and shoplifting (23%). All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

Police recorded robbery increased by 15% (to 71,387 offences) in comparison with the year ending December 2021 (61,865 offences) but remained 20% lower than the year ending March 2020 (89,534 offences). All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

Notes for theft offences:

1. Police recorded crime data have a wider offence coverage than CSEW. Police recorded burglary includes both residential and non-residential burglary, such as those committed against a business premises, and therefore differs from the residential burglary captured by the Crime Survey.

Estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) for the year ending December 2022 showed that there were 3.7 million fraud offences. There was no change compared with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic year ending March 2020 (3.7 million offences). Within fraud offences, bank and credit account fraud decreased by 14% (from 2.5 million to 2.1 million offences), and advance fee fraud increased by nearly eight times (from 60,000 to 454,000 offences) compared with the year ending March 2020. This may indicate fraudsters taking advantage of behavioural changes during the coronavirus pandemic, as shown in our How our spending has changed since the end of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions publication. For example, advance fee fraud offences included scams where victims transferred funds to fraudsters for postal deliveries.

Previous estimates from the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) showed that levels of fraud increased during the coronavirus pandemic, as shown in our Nature of fraud and computer misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2022 article. CSEW estimates for the year ending December 2022 have shown that total fraud has now returned to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels. As we found no differences in estimates of fraud between the CSEW and TCSEW in our Update to comparability between the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales and the face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales article, this trend is likely to be genuine and the increase in fraud was specific to the period of the coronavirus pandemic, rather than a sustained change in trends.

Police recorded fraud increased by 25% to 1.1 million offences in the year ending December 2022 compared with the year ending December 2021 (912,203 offences). However, this increase needs to be interpreted in the context of differences in coverage and fraud types captured by each reporting body as well as administrative changes [note 1].

The increase in fraud was mainly influenced by a rise in offences recorded by UK Finance [note 2], who reported a 146% increase (to 467,371 offences) compared with the year ending December 2021 (190,327). This was a result of an increase in reporting from their existing members because of engagement from UK Finance, as well as reports coming in from new members who joined towards the end of 2021. Cifas also reported a 13% increase in fraud (to 373,882 offences) compared with the year ending December 2021 (329,442).

Action Fraud (the public-facing national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre) reported a 24% decrease in fraud offences (to 298,792 offences) compared with the year ending December 2021 (392,434 offences). The main contribution to this came from a 40% fall in “other fraud” (to 85,227 offences), and a 22% reduction in consumer and retail fraud (to 107,831 offences) and may be related to changes in behaviour as restrictions to social contact were lifted. All figures in this paragraph exclude Devon and Cornwall Police.

Notes for fraud:

1. The UK Finance figures and NFIB totals presented in this bulletin and accompanying data tables are supplemented by provisional data provided by UK Finance. This is because of inconsistencies in the data collection process affecting a small percentage of the records supplied by UK Finance. The NFIB and UK Finance are working to ensure that all referrals from this period are processed, at which point the need for provisional data will be removed.
2. UK Finance is responsible for coordinating activities on fraud prevention in the UK payments industry, and it represents members from retail banks, card payment acquirers in the UK, and credit, debit and charge card issuers.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides a better indication of the volume of computer misuse offences experienced by the adult population than those reported to the police, as it captures incidents that go unreported to the police. This can be seen by the large difference in the volume of computer misuse offences between the two sources, which also cannot be compared because of differences in coverage.

Estimates from the CSEW for the year ending December 2022 showed that there were 764,000 offences of computer misuse. There was no significant change compared with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic year ending March 2020 (876,000 offences). However, there was a 69% decrease in computer virus offences (to 113,000 offences) in the year ending December 2022 compared with the year ending March 2020 (360,000 offences).

This was a marked change compared with findings from the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) for the year ending March 2022, where we reported an 89% increase in computer misuse offences compared with the year ending March 2020. While some of the reported increase in TCSEW estimates were likely to be genuine, our Update to comparability between the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales and the face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales article showed that part of this increase can be explained by survey bias. These new estimates from the CSEW provide our best estimate of the current level of computer misuse and suggest any real increase measured by the TCSEW was likely specific to the coronavirus pandemic period.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) record computer misuse offences and disseminate those that can be investigated to the police for investigation. The NFIB reported a 1% decrease in computer misuse offences referred by Action Fraud (from 27,637 to 27,447 offences) for the year ending December 2022 compared with the year ending December 2021 (excluding Devon and Cornwall Police).

The police recorded 1 million incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the year ending December 2022. This was a 23% decrease compared with the year ending March 2020 (1.3 million incidents) and a 29% fall compared with the year ending December 2021 (1.4 million incidents). Levels of ASB incidents were higher in the year ending December 2021, in part, because of people reporting breaches of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions in their local area since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which most police forces logged under ASB on their crime and incident recording systems. All figures exclude Devon and Cornwall Police and Lincolnshire Police.

We recently consulted on the Redesign of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and published two research reports on the transforming the Crime Survey for online data collection.

The purpose of the consultation was to update survey data users on the methodological redesign of the CSEW, including a new panel design with multi-modal waves and to provide the opportunity to comment on survey content. For more details see our Consultation response: Redesign of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (PDF, 558KB).

For more information on the research reports, please see Kantar's work package reports A: Developing and testing an online version of the CSEW questionnaire, and Work package B: Exploring the use of an online survey to measure crime among children and young people.

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.

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 or 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. The majority of 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). Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates cover a broad range of fraud offences, including attempts, involving a loss, and incidents not reported to the authorities. See the Glossary section of our Nature of fraud and computer misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2022 article for definitions of the different fraud types.

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, 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 prior to a theft or attempted theft. Mugging is an informal term for robbery. In this bulletin, we use the term “robbery”.

Violent crime

Violent crime covers a range of offence types from minor assaults, such as pushing and shoving that result in no physical harm, to murder. This includes offences where the victim was intentionally stabbed, punched, kicked, pushed or jostled, as well as offences where the victim was threatened with violence, regardless of injury.

More information and further definitions can be found in the “offence type” section of our User guide to crime statistics for England and Wales: Measuring crime during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW)

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates continue to provide important information in relation to longer-term trends in crime from the year ending December 1981 to the year ending December 2022.

The face-to-face CSEW was suspended on 17 March 2020 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) was designed to continue measuring crime while the face-to-face CSEW was suspended. TCSEW data collection took place between 20 May 2020 and 31 March 2022.

Face-to-face CSEW interviewing for adults aged 16 years and over resumed on 4 October 2021. Crime estimates for the year ending December 2022 are produced from data collected between January 2022 to December 2022. Asking respondents about crimes in the previous 12 months to the interview, the current CSEW estimates continue to include crimes committed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic period (as far back as January 2021) as well as more recent ones.

Estimates are derived from a total of 26,621 interviews conducted with household residents in England and Wales aged 16 years and over. CSEW estimates can be compared with the year ending March 2020 estimates throughout this bulletin, the last time period for which CSEW data were published before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Face-to-face interviewing for children aged 10 to 15 years resumed in April 2022. The first crime estimates for children aged 10 to 15 years are expected to be published in July 2023.

CSEW estimates for the year ending December 2022 have been temporarily suspended of their National Statistics status, for more information see the Office for Statistics Regulation’s Temporary suspension of National Statistics status for estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales note. Caution should be taken when interpreting these estimates because of the impact of lower response rates on the quality of the estimates.

The Appendix Table A1 presents CSEW crime for the year ending December 2022. These estimates best reflect the current extent of crime and are directly comparable with the main CSEW time-series estimates.

Further information is available in our Crime in England and Wales QMI.

Police recorded crime

Police recorded crime data are supplied to us by the Home Office, who are responsible for the collation of recorded crime data supplied by the 43 territorial police forces of England and Wales, plus the British Transport Police. These data are supplied to the Home Office on a monthly basis for each crime within their notifiable offence list.

The recorded crime figures are collated through a live administrative system that is continually being updated as forces submit data. The data represent a “snapshot” of the live database taken on 3 March 2023 (for data up to the end of December 2022). Figures may differ slightly from those published in subsequent bulletins for the same period, although this does not mean that the figures previously published were inaccurate at the time that they were reported. Police recorded crime data are not designated as National Statistics.

Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW)

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) includes crimes that are not reported to, or recorded by the police, but is limited to crimes against people resident in households and does not cover all crime types.

The CSEW is a better indicator of long-term trends for the crime types and population it covers, than police recorded crime because it is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police or police recording practices. The victimisation methodology and the crime types included in the main count of crime have remained comparable since the CSEW began in 1981.

Police recorded crime

Police recorded crime has wider offence coverage and population coverage than the CSEW. It is the primary source of local crime statistics and is a good measure of offences that are well-reported to and well-recorded by the police, including lower-volume crimes (for example, homicide). In addition, the time lag between occurrence of crime and reporting results tends to be short, providing an indication of emerging trends.

Police recorded crime excludes offences that are not reported to, or not recorded by, the police. Trends can be influenced by changes in recording practices, or police activity and public reporting of crime, making it difficult to make long-term comparisons. There are also concerns about the quality of recording and that crime is not recorded consistently across police forces or over time.

For more information, see our Crime in England and Wales Quality and Methodology Information report.

Issue with Devon and Cornwall Police recorded crime data

Data for Devon and Cornwall Police have not been included in this release because of issues with their data supply following the implementation of a new IT system in November 2022. From this date, and until the new system is fully integrated with ICT and working practices, the force will be unable to provide data.

Figures for Devon and Cornwall Police are not included in the National and Regional totals of the police recorded crime data for the years ending March 2020 and December 2021 and 2022 in this bulletin to allow for comparisons across these years. Data from Action Fraud also exclude Devon and Cornwall Police because of the system change affecting their ability to provide accurate data. UK Finance and Cifas are not affected by this issue, therefore their figures do not exclude Devon and Cornwall police.

Violent crime

In published crime statistics, violent crime as measured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime differ. This includes large-volume crimes such as stalking and harassment, which the survey does not publish in its main estimates of crime but are in the police figures. For more information, see Section 4 of our User guide to crime statistics for England and Wales: March 2020.