Domestic abuse: statistics recorded by the police in Scotland, 2022-23

Key Points

The police recorded 61,934 incidents of domestic abuse in 2022-23, a decrease of 4% compared to the previous year. This is the second consecutive year this figure has shown a decrease since 2015-16.

In 2022-23, 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 2022-23 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 the 1 April 2019, crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 accounted for 5% of crimes and offences recorded as part of a domestic abuse incident in 2022-23.

There were 114 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland per 10,000 population in 2022-23. At a local authority level, Dundee City (180), West Lothian (148) and Glasgow City (141) recorded the highest incident rates per 10,000 population.

Where gender information was recorded, just over four-in-five (81%) incidents of domestic abuse in 2022-23 involved a female victim and a male suspected perpetrator. This was the same as in 2021-22.

In 2022-23, 16% of domestic abuse incidents involved a male victim and a female suspected perpetrator (where gender information was recorded). This increased slightly from 15% in 2021-22.

In 2022-23, the 31 to 35 years old age group had the highest incident rate for both victims (277 incidents recorded per 10,000 population) and suspected perpetrators (245 incidents recorded per 10,000 population).

A third of incidents (32%) occurred at the weekend in 2022-23. This was a slight decrease from 33% in 2021-22.

In 2022-23, nine-in-ten (90%) of all domestic abuse incidents occurred in a home or dwelling.