Crime rate in the UK by country 2002-2022

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. In England and Wales, the crime rate rose from 77.5 crimes per 1,000 people to 89.3, while in Scotland it fell to 52.4, from 54.8, wiith the crime rate of Nothern Ireland rising from 49.8 to 56 crimes per 1,000 population. 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 52.4 by 2021/22.

Overall crime on the rise

In 2019/20 there were approximately 6.43 million crimes recorded by the police in the United Kingdom, representing the highest figure since 2006/07 when there were around 5.97 million. In fact, since 2013/14 when there were just 4.4 million crimes, there has been year-on-year increases, following an almost constant trend of declining crime between the early 2000s and mid-2010s.

Is austerity to blame?

After the 2010 General Election in the UK the government adopted a fiscal policy which sought to reduce public spending across almost all government departments. Between 2009/10 and 2013/14 government spending on the Police Service fell from 19.3 billion to 16.35 billion. As a result of the decline in spending, police officer numbers declined by approximately 20 thousand in the same time period.