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Publication - Statistics

Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: June 2025

Published
26 June 2025
From
Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, +4 more … Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Lord Advocate, Director of Justice, Chief Statistician
Directorate
Safer Communities Directorate, +2 more … Justice Directorate, Children and Families Directorate
Topic
Communities and third sector, Law and order, Public safety and emergencies

This report contains summary statistics covering a number of important justice and safer communities areas. It is updated with the most recently published statistics.

Part of

Supporting documents

Police recorded crime is down 1% since year ending December 2023, and remains below the position immediately prior to the pandemic. The total number of crimes recorded by the police in Scotland in the year ending December 2024 was 298,308. This was 3,768 crimes (or 1%) lower than the level recorded in the year ending December 2023.

Chart 1 : Number of crimes recorded by the police (in thousands) – December 2020 to December 2024

In December 2024, police recorded crime is down 1% since year ending December 2023, to 298,308.

* New * Property and violent crime has fallen by 37% since 2008-09. Results from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) show that one-in-five (19.9%) adults were estimated to have experienced at least one crime. This included property crime (10.3% of adults), violent crime (2.9%) and for the first time fraud and computer misuse (9.5%). The latest findings shows that the overall level of property and violent crime combined and the likelihood of being a victim of these crimes has increased since 2021/22. However, no change is detected with the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20, and both measures are down since 2008/09.

Chart 2: Estimated total crimes (in thousands) – by survey year

Chart 2 - Overall crimes, 2008-09 to 2023-24. Overall crime picture from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, 2008-09 to 2023-24. This illustrates one series showing that property and violent crime is down over the long term, but increased between 2021-22 and 2023-24. The other series illustrates all crime, including fraud and computer misuse, which was introduced in 2023-24 and does not therefore yet show any trend.

* New * Recorded violent crime decreased in the most recent year. Non-sexual crimes of violence recorded by the police decreased by 2%, from 71,900 in year ending December 2023 to 70,637 in year ending December 2024. Common assault (down 1%) made up the clear majority (83%) of all non-sexual crimes of violence recorded in the year ending December 2024. The SCJS showed that in 2023-24 the volume of violent crime increased by 73% since 2021-22. However, this is still 27% lower than 2008-09 and does not show a statistically significant change from 2019-20. It also showed that an estimated 44% of violent crime in 2023-24 was reported to the police.

Recorded sexual crimes decreased in the most recent year. Sexual crimes decreased by 2%, from 14,894 in the year ending December 2023 to 14,539 in the year ending December 2024. However, sexual crimes have been increasing in the long term. Multiple factors lie behind the long term increase in recorded sexual crime including for example - historical reporting, more online offending and the impact of new legislation. The latest available data from the SCJS, for 2018-20 (2018-19 & 2019-20 combined) estimated that 3.6% of adults experienced at least one serious sexual assault since the age of 16, unchanged from 2008-09.

Women more likely to experience partner abuse. The SCJS, for 2018-20, estimated that 3.2% of respondents had experienced partner abuse in the year prior to interview. A higher proportion of women than men experienced this, at 3.7% and 2.6% respectively.

Increase in crime clear up rate. The clear up rate for all recorded crimes was 54.1% in 2023-24, up from 53.3% in 2022-23. Crimes against society (91.4%), non-sexual crimes of violence (68%) and sexual crimes (57.2%) continued to have higher clear up rates in 2023-24 than crimes of dishonesty (33.1%) and damage and reckless behaviour (29.6%).

Number of victims of homicide at third lowest since 1976. There were 57 homicide victims recorded by the police in Scotland in 2023-24, a 10% increase from 2022-23 but a 10% decrease from 2014-15.

Chart 3: Number of victims of homicide, 2014-15 to 2023-24

Chart 3 - Victims of homicide, 2014-15 to 2023-24 Annual number of victims of homicide recorded by the police, 2014-15 to 2023-24. Has ranged between 52 and 67 over the last decade.

Increase in recorded domestic abuse incidents. There were 63,867 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in 2023-24, an increase of 3% on 2022-23. In 2023-24, 38% of all incidents recorded by the police included the recording of at least one crime or offence.

Chart 4: Number of domestic abuse incidents, 2016-17 to 2023-24

Chart 4 - Domestic abuse incidents, 2016-17 to 2023-24 Annual number of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police, broken down by whether crime/offence involved, 2016-17 to 2023-24.

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