The crime rate in the United Kingdom increased in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, but fell in Scotland between 2020/21 and 2021/22. For 2022/23, the crime rate in England and Wales rose again with 93.6 crimes per 1,000 people, while in Scotland it increased slightly to 52.8. During this time period the crime rate of England and Wales has usually been the highest in the UK, while Scotland's crime rate has improved the most, falling from 93.4 crimes per 1,000 people in 2002/03, to just 52.3 by 2021/22.
Overall crime on the rise
In 2022/23 there were approximately 6.74 million crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. Although crime declined quite significantly between 2002/03 and 2013/14, this trend has been reversed in subsequent years. While there are no easy explanations for the recent uptick in crime, it is possible that reduced government spending on the police service was at least partly to blame. In 2009/10 for example, government spending on the police stood at around 19.3 billion pounds, with this cut to between 17.58 billion and 16.35 billion between 2012/13 and 2017/18. One of the most visible consequences of these cuts was a sharp reduction in the number of police officers in the UK. As recently as 2019, there were just 150,000 police officers in the UK, compared with 172,000 in 2020.
A creaking justice system
During the period of austerity, the Ministry of Justice as a whole saw its budget sharply decline, from 9.1 billion pounds in 2009/10, to just 7.35 billion by 2015/16. Although there has been a reversal of the cuts to budgets and personnel in the justice system, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the depleted service hard in 2020. A backlog of cases grew rapidly, putting a strain on the ability of the justice system to process cases quickly. As of the first quarter of 2023, for example, it took on average 676 days for a crown court case to go from offence to conclusion, compared with 412 days in 2014.
Crime rate per 1,000 population in the United Kingdom from 2002/03 to 2022/23, by jurisdiction
Characteristic
England & Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
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Office for National Statistics (UK), & Scottish Government, & Police Service of Northern Ireland. (July 21, 2023). Crime rate per 1,000 population in the United Kingdom from 2002/03 to 2022/23, by jurisdiction [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030625/crime-rate-uk/
Office for National Statistics (UK), und Scottish Government, und Police Service of Northern Ireland. "Crime rate per 1,000 population in the United Kingdom from 2002/03 to 2022/23, by jurisdiction." Chart. July 21, 2023. Statista. Accessed June 18, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030625/crime-rate-uk/
Office for National Statistics (UK), Scottish Government, Police Service of Northern Ireland. (2023). Crime rate per 1,000 population in the United Kingdom from 2002/03 to 2022/23, by jurisdiction. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: June 18, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030625/crime-rate-uk/
Office for National Statistics (UK), and Scottish Government, and Police Service of Northern Ireland. "Crime Rate per 1,000 Population in The United Kingdom from 2002/03 to 2022/23, by Jurisdiction." Statista, Statista Inc., 21 Jul 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030625/crime-rate-uk/
Office for National Statistics (UK) & Scottish Government & Police Service of Northern Ireland, Crime rate per 1,000 population in the United Kingdom from 2002/03 to 2022/23, by jurisdiction Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030625/crime-rate-uk/ (last visited June 18, 2024)
Crime rate per 1,000 population in the United Kingdom from 2002/03 to 2022/23, by jurisdiction [Graph], Office for National Statistics (UK), & Scottish Government, & Police Service of Northern Ireland, July 21, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030625/crime-rate-uk/