Coronavirus (COVID-19) - Justice Analytical Services data report: January 2022

Recorded Crime in Scotland

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

Note: Each set of columns shows from left to right, January 2020, 2021 and 2022

January 2022

The number of crimes reco rded in January 2022 was 10% higher than in January 2021 but 3% lower than in January 2020. The number of offences was 13% higher compared to January 2021 but 5% lower than in January 2020.

Non-sexual crimes of violence were 17% (or 117 crimes) higher compared to January 2021, increasing from 672 to 789 crimes, and 7% higher compared to January 2020 (increasing from 736 crimes). Within this, Attempted murder and serious assault increased by 38% compared to January 2021 (from 216 to 297). Other violence increased by 2% compared to January 2021 (from 219 to 223) and also increased by 72% from January 2020 (from 130 to 223). The increase in Other violence between January 2020 and January 2022 was due to a rise in Threats and extortion, with the recently published National Statistics bulletin estimating that more than three-quarters (77%) of Threats and extortion recorded in 2020-21 were cyber-crimes. Crimes under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 increased by 15% compared to January 2021 (from 124 to 142 crimes), but were 7% lower than in January 2020 (decreasing from 153 to 142 crimes).

Sexual crimes were 33% (or 284 crimes) higher compared to January 2021, increasing from 861 to 1,145 crimes. This was also 3% higher than in January 2020 (increasing from 1,107 crimes). Sexual assault saw the largest percentage increase since January 2021, increasing by 50% (from 259 to 389). This was 4% lower compared to January 2020 (from 405 to 389). Rape and attempted rape increased by 14% compared to January 2021, from 145 to 166 crimes, but this was a 5% decrease compared to January 2020 (from 174 to 166 crimes).

Crimes of dishonesty were 17% (or 1,133 crimes) higher compared to January 2021, increasing from 6,811 to 7,944 crimes. This was 8% lower than in January 2020 (decreasing from 8,658 crimes). Crimes of Fraud have increased throughout the pandemic. There was a 3% increase compared to January 2021 (from 1,555 to 1,600 crimes), this follows a 65% increase since January 2020 (from 969 to 1,600). The Changes in levels of recorded fraud section in the monthly crime publication provides users with further background on what may be contributing to this change. Shoplifting has been the biggest contributor (by volume) to the increase since 2021 having risen by 42% compared to January 2021 (from 1,366 to 1,936 crimes), but was 12% lower when compared to January 2020.

Fire-raising, vandalism etc. was 16% (or 503 crimes) higher compared to January 2021, increasing from 3,176 to 3,679 crimes, but was 7% lower than January 2020. Vandalism etc. has risen 15% since January 2021 (increasing from 3,002 to 3,450). This is 9% lower than January 2020 levels.

Other crimes were 8% (or 420 crimes) lower than in January 2021, decreasing from 5,293 to 4,873 crimes. This is 6% higher than January 2020 (increasing from 4,589 to 4,873 crimes). The main contributors to these decreases were Drugs (which fell by 19% compared to January 2021 and 9% compared to January 2020) and Crimes against public justice (which fell by 2% compared to January 2021 but increased by 30% compared to January 2020).

The following chart shows a breakdown of the crime and offence groups, comparing January 2020, 2021 and 2022

Note: each category shows rows from top to bottom for January 2020, 2021 and 2022

The biggest decreases from January 2021 to January 2022 were Drugs and Crimes against public justice.

The biggest decreases over this period were:

Drugs

↓ 19% (or 497 crimes)

↓ 9% (or 199 crimes) compared to January 2020

Crimes against public justice

↓ 2% (or 32 crimes)

↑ 30% (or 462 crimes) compared to January 2020

The biggest increases from January 2021 to January 2022 (by volume) were:

Shoplifting

↑ 42% (or 570 crimes)

↓ 12% (or 269 crimes) compared to January 2020

Vandalism etc.

↑ 15% (or 448 crimes)

↓ 9% (or 335 crimes) compared to January 2020

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: January 2022.

Police Recorded Domestic Abuse Incidents

The number of Domestic Abuse incidents recorded in January 2022 was higher than the levels seen in both January 2021 and January 2020.

These updates (including the proportion with a crime or offence) will be reflected in future editions of the Official Statistics on Domestic Abuse in Scotland. The most recent edition covers the 2020-21 reporting year.

In January 2022:

5,291 Domestic incidents recorded

Up 4% since January 2021 (5,098 incidents)

Up 5% since January 2020 (5,035 incidents)

In April 2021 to January 2022:

53,113 Domestic incidents recorded

Down 2% since the same months in Apr 2020 to Jan 2021 (54,451 incidents)

Up 1% since the same months in Apr 2019 to Jan 2020 (52,398 incidents)

The proportion of April 2021 to January 2022 incidents that included the recording of at least one crime or offence was 42.4%, lower than for the equivalent period the previous year (April 2020 to January 2021), at 43.3%.

In addition to the above, separate figures on crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 are available from the Recorded Crime in Scotland monthly Official Statistics. There were 142 such crimes recorded by the police in January 2022, this is 15% higher than January 2021 (124 crimes) and 7% lower than January 2020 (153 crimes).

Police Recorded Domestic Abuse Incidents per 10,000 population

Across Scotland as a whole, the police recorded 97 domestic abuse incidents per 10,000 population^[1] during the period April 2021 to January 2022.

The local authorities with the highest rates were Dundee City (142), West Dunbartonshire (133) and City of Glasgow (122).

The following chart shows local authorities with rates above the national average.

The following map shows local authorities with above the national average (in a darker shading) of Domestic Abuse incidents per 10,000 population, in the period April 2021 to January 2022.

Further Information:

The crime 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 the Monthly Official Statistics on Recorded Crime in Scotland.