Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services data report - October 2020

Recorded Crime in Scotland 

The recorded crime figures presented below exclude crimes recorded under the coronavirus legislation. 

October 2020

The number of crimes recorded in 2020 remains below 2019 levels

The number of crimes recorded in October 2020 was 8% lower than in October 2019, and the number of offences was also 8% lower than in October 2019.

Since last year, six crime and offence groups have seen a reduction while one crime group is at a higher level.

Other crimes were 3% higher (or 153 crimes). This increase was driven by rises in Crimes against public justice (up 25%, or 410 crimes). 

April to October 2020

Since April 2020, crime has remained below 2019 levels

When looking across April to October 2020*, 138,002 crimes were recorded. This was 7% lower than April to October last year (148,217 crimes recorded). 

When comparing to previous months, crime in 2020 has remained fairly stable since May. 

*The recorded crime figures presented here exclude crimes recorded under the new coronavirus legislation. 

The biggest drivers of the reduction across April to October were Shoplifting, Other theft and Vandalism etc. 

The Changes in levels of recorded fraud section in the latest bulletin provides further background on what may be contributing to this change.

The biggest drivers of the 7% reduction over April to October (by volumes) were: 

Shoplifting
34% (or 6,486 crimes) 

Other theft
19% (or 4,892 crimes) 

Vandalism etc.
13% (or 3,407 crimes) 

The biggest increases of this period were in:

Crimes against public justice
34% (or 3,850 crimes) 

Fraud
61% (or 3,744 crimes) 

Further Information: 

The data in this section comes from the monthly Official Statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information, please see Recorded Crime in Scotland: October 2020.