Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services Data Report - September 2021

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, September 2019, 2020 and 2021

September 2021

The number of crimes reco rded in September 2021 was 4% lower than in September 2020 and 8% lower than in September 2019. The number of offences was unchanged compared to September 2020 (<1% lower) and 3% lower than in September 2019.

Non-sexual crimes of violence were 16% higher (or 111 crimes) compared to September 2020, increasing from 704 to 815 crimes, and 4% lower compared to September 2019 (decreasing from 851 crimes). Within this, Attempted murder and serious assault increased by 6% compared to September 2020 (from 291 to 308). Other violence increased by 29% compared to September 2020 (from 163 to 210) and also increased by 23% from September 2019 (from 171 to 210).

Sexual crimes were 16% higher (or 194 crimes) compared to last September, increasing from 1,185 to 1,379 crimes. This was also 21% higher than in September 2019 (increasing from 1,143 crimes). Other sexual crimes saw the largest increase since September 2020, increasing by 21% (from 539 to 654). This was also 35% higher than in September 2019. Rape and attempted rape decreased by 1% compared to September 2020, from 232 to 229 crimes, but this was also a 2% increase compared to September 2019 (from 224 to 229 crimes).

Fire raising, vandalism etc. was 5% lower (or 191 fewer crimes) compared to September 2020, and 10% lower than in September 2019.

Crimes of dishonesty were 2% lower (or 129 crimes) compared to September 2020, decreasing from 8,139 to 8,010 crimes. This was 11% lower than in September 2019 (decreasing from 8,980 crimes). Crimes of Fraud have increased throughout the pandemic, but there has been a 3% decrease since September 2020 (from 1,367 to 1,328).

Other crimes were 15% lower (or 860 crimes) than in September 2020, decreasing from 5,844 to 4,984 crimes. This was also 8% lower than September 2019 (decreasing from 5,428 to 4,984 crimes). The main contributors to these decreases were Drugs (which fell by 21% compared to September 2020 and 26% compared to September 2019) and Crimes against public justice (which fell by 11% compared to September 2020 but were 25% higher compared to September 2019).

The following chart shows a breakdown of the crime and offence groups, comparing September 2019, 2020 and 2021

Note: each category shows columns from left to right for September 2019, 2020 and 2021

The biggest drivers of the decrease from September 2020 to September 2021 were Drugs and Crimes against public justice.

The biggest drivers of the 4% decrease over this period were:

Drugs

↓ 21% (or 594 crimes)

↓ 26% (or 790 crimes) compared to September 2019

Crimes against public justice

↓ 11% (or 230 crimes)

↑ 25% (or 374 crimes) compared to September 2019

The biggest increases from September 2020 to September 2021 (by volume) were:

Other theft

↑ 4% (or 130 crimes)

↓ 15% (or 534 crimes) compared to September 2019

Other sexual crimes

↑ 21% (or 115 crimes)

↑ 35% (or 168 crimes) compared to September 2019

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: September 2021.