Domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland, 2021-22

Scotland’s Chief Statistician today released Domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland, 2021-22.

The main findings include:

The police recorded 64,807 incidents of domestic abuse in 2021-22, a decrease of 1% compared to the previous year. This is the first year this figure has shown a decrease since 2015-16.

In 2021-22, 39% of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland included the recording of at least one crime or offence.

The type of crime or offence that was most frequently recorded as part of a domestic abuse incident in 2021-22 was Common assault, accounting for 32% of all crimes and offences recorded. This was followed by Threatening and abusive behaviour accounting for 21% of crimes and offences.

Following its enactment on 1 April 2019, crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 accounted for 4% of crimes and offences recorded as part of a domestic abuse incident in 2021-22.

There were 118 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland per 10,000 population in 2021-22. At a local authority level, Dundee City (172), West Dunbartonshire (161) and Glasgow City (147) recorded the highest incident rates per 10,000 population.

Where gender information was recorded, around four-in-five incidents of domestic abuse (81%) in 2021-22 had a female victim and a male suspected perpetrator. This increased slightly from 80% in 2020-21.

In 2021-22, the 31 to 35 years old age group had the highest incident rate for both victims (261 incidents recorded per 10,000 population) and for the suspected perpetrators (243 incidents recorded per 10,000 population).

A third of incidents (33%) occurred at the weekend in 2021-22. This is a slight increase from 31% in 2020-21.

In 2021-22, Just under nine-in-ten (89%) of all domestic abuse incidents occurred in a home or dwelling.

Background

1. The full statistical publication can be accessed online.

2. Further Information on Crime and Justice statistics within Scotland can be accessed online.     

3. Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. Further information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be found online.