Justice Analytical Services (JAS) Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report July 2023 edition

This report contains summary statistics covering a number of important justice and safer communities statistics. It is published with up to date statistics every month.


Topic Page

Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2022-23

An infographic summarising the key points from the publication entitled “Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2022-23”, published in June 2023. 

The number of crimes recorded by the police rose steadily from the nineteen-seventies to the early nineteen-nineties; since then crime has generally fallen. Comparable records began in 1971, with recorded crime peaking in 1991 at 613,943 crimes. Ten years ago there were 331,629 recorded crimes and one year ago there were 286,464 recorded crimes. In 2022-23, 289,352 crimes were recorded.

In 2022-23, recorded crime consisted of 36 percent Crimes of dishonesty, 24 percent Non-sexual crimes of violence, 21 percent Crimes against society, 15 percent Damage and reckless behaviour and 5 percent Sexual Crimes.

Ten-year trends vary by crime group. Recorded Sexual crimes have increased by 70 percent between 2013-14 and 2022-23. Recorded Non-sexual crimes of violence and recorded Crimes against society have largely held steady though there has been some fluctuation. Damage and reckless behaviour has decreased between 2013-14 and 2022-23 and Crimes of dishonesty has also decreased though has increased in recent years.

An estimated 40 percent of crime is reported to the police, based on the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (2019-20).

An estimated 5 percent of crime is cyber-dependent or cyber-enabled, based on research into a sample of police recorded crime.”

Contact

Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot

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