Crime and violence: data

Here we present a brief summary of key national trends in crime and violence in Scotland. For more detailed reporting and data please refer to Recorded Crime in Scotland (the most recent reporting is Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2024-25) and the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (the most recent reporting is Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, 2023/24).

[N.B. In 2021/22 a new crime group structure was introduced for recorded crime statistics, and the 2021-22 annual bulletin Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2021-22 was the first to reflect this new structure. The most significant change was the re-categorisation of common assault and stalking from the Miscellaneous offences group to the ‘non-sexual crimes of violence group’. The data has been back-revised to ensure that time series analysis could be maintained.]

Here we use the most recent reporting from Recorded Crime in Scotland and the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey to report on national trends in two areas:

• Trends in crime and violence recorded by the police.
• Trends in crime and violence captured by survey data.

Trends in crime and violence recorded by the police

In 2024-25 the police recorded a total of 299,111 crimes and 175,919 offences. The term 'crime' is generally used for the more serious criminal acts; the less serious acts are termed 'offences', although the term 'offence' may also be used in relation to serious breaches of criminal law. The distinction is only for reporting of statistics and has no connection to how police investigate criminal activity.

Between 2023-24 and 2024-25 the total number of crimes recorded by the police in Scotland changed very little (from 299,790 to 299,111).

Recorded crime remains at one of the lowest levels since the 1970s (Recorded Crime in Scotland 2024-25).

In recent data, recorded crimes are grouped into six categories: non-sexual crimes of violence; sexual crimes; crimes of dishonesty, damage and reckless behaviour; crimes against society; and Coronavirus restrictions.  

Breakdown by type of crime:

• 'Non-sexual crimes of violence' accounted for 24% of all crimes recorded by the police in 2024-25, showing no change since 2023-24.
• 'Sexual crimes' (including rape and attempted rape, sexual assault and prostitution, causing to view sexual activity or images, communicating indecently, threatening to/disclosing intimate images, indecent photos of children and other sexual crimes) accounted for 5% of all recorded crime in Scotland in 2024-25. A total of 14,892 crimes were recorded in this category in 2024-25 (a 3% increase since 2023-24). 
• 'Crimes of dishonesty' (including theft, shoplifting, housebreaking and fraud) accounted for 37% of all recorded crime in Scotland in 2024-25. A total of 110,913 crimes were recorded in this category in 2024-25; showing no change since 2023-24.
• 'Crimes against society' accounted for 21% of all recorded crime in Scotland in 2024-25. In 2024-25 the number of ‘Crimes against society’ recorded by the police was 63,398, an increase of 3% from 2023-24.
• 'Damage and reckless behaviour' accounted for 13% of all recorded crime in Scotland in 2024-25. The number of recorded crimes of 'Damage and reckless behaviour' was 38,738 in 2024-25, down 6% from 2023-24.

Non-sexual crimes of violence are further categorised into: murder and culpable homicide; death by dangerous driving; serious assault and attempted murder; common assault; robbery; crimes under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018; and other non-sexual violence.

This is a new grouping structure, where, among other changes, ‘common assault’ and ‘stalking’ were reclassified as crimes (not offences) and now included in 'non-sexual crimes of violence'. Common assault now constitutes the majority of non-sexual crimes of violence (83% in 2024-25).

Non-sexual crimes of violence recorded by the police have been increasing since 2014-15, but remain below the peak recorded between 2003-04 and 2011-12 (Recorded Crime in Scotland 2024-25).

Breakdown by type of non-sexual crime of violence:

• Murder and culpable homicide. There has been an 27% decrease in homicides across Scotland over the last 10 years.
• Death by dangerous driving accounted for 0.1% of non-sexual crimes of violence in 2024-25, numbering three times more than 10 years ago (66 compared with 21).
• Serious assault and attempted murder accounted for 4% of non-sexual crimes of violence in Scotland in 2024-25.
• Common assault was added to the non-sexual crimes of violence group with the new crime group structure and, as outlined above, accounted for 83% of crimes in this category in 2024-25. There were more common assaults in 2024-25 and 2023-24 than in any of the preceding 10 years, representing an increase of 1% since 2015-16.
• Robbery accounted for 3% of non-sexual crimes of violence in 2024-25. In the ten years between 2015-16 and 2024-25 there has been a 34% increase in this category. 
• Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 crimes accounted for 4% of non-sexual crimes of violence in 2024-25, of which 94% were incidents in which the victim was female. The 2,573 recorded Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act crimes in 2024-25 is the highest number recorded since the implementation of the Act (2019-20), and represents a 53% increase since then. Domestic abuse incidents are classed as Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 crimes if they relate to a series of acts that evidence a continuity of purpose: other domestic abuse incidents will not have been recorded in this category.

Trends in crime and violence captured by survey data

Crime recorded by the police fails to reveal the incidence of all crime committed across Scotland; this is because a high proportion of crimes are not reported to the police. In Scotland, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) is a national survey of people's experiences and perceptions of crime in Scotland.

The most recent data available for the SCJS is for 2023/24. In 2023/24, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey estimated that the police became aware of 29% of crime, a lower proportion than in other years.

The 2023/24 SCJS estimated that:

• Approximately 661,000 violent and property crimes were experienced by adults in Scotland. Of these an estimated 65% were crimes to property and 35% were violent crimes. This represents a fall of 37% in these crimes combined, and a 27% fall in violent crime since 2008/09. 
• There were approximately 524,000 fraud and computer misuse crimes - a new crime category for the 2023/24 SCJS. This crime category accounted for 44% of all crimes in Scotland. 
• 20% of adults were victims of at least one crime. 10% of adults had been a victim of property crime, 3% of violent crime, 12% for property and violent crime combined, and 10% of the new crime category of fraud or computer misuse. Trends by different equality groups can be explored on the Equality Evidence Finder. 
• People under 25 years of age, those living in the most deprived areas in Scotland, disabled people, and those living in urban areas were most likely to experience crime.
• Over two-thirds of adults (71%) thought the local crime rate had stayed the same or reduced in the past two years. Trends by different equality groups can be explored on the Equality Evidence Finder. 

The Scottish Household Survey asks respondents how safe they feel when walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark and whether they feel safe at home alone at night. Based on the 2024 survey , it was estimated that 78% of adults felt very or fairly safe when walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark.