Catalina Espinosa
Research expert covering society, economy, and politics for Europe and the EU
Crime in London - Statistics & Facts
In 2024/25, London's crime rate reached 106.4 crimes per 1,000 people, compared with a crime rate of 105.8 in the previous year. Since the mid-2010s London's crime rate has steadily increased, with over 951,800 crimes recorded by the the police in 2024/25. This uptick in crime is not unique to London, with overall crime in England and Wales also increasing in the last decade, following several years of decline from the early 2000s onwards. Additionally, while London had one of the highest crime rates in England and Wales, four police forces in the North of England had a higher crime rate.
What types of crime are rising in London?
Like the rest of the country, shoplifting offences in the UK capital have increased substantially in recent years. In 2024/25, there were over 95,240 of these offences, compared with around 46,000 per year before the COVID-19 pandemic. Theft from the person offences, including pickpocketing or the snatching of property, has become one of the more visible types of crime in London, at more than 103,900 offences in 2024/25, in comparison with just 53,690 in 2019/20. Violent crime also remains at quite high levels, with around 50,000 more violent crimes in 2024/25, than there were in 2015/16, while the number of knife crime offences reported in 2024/25 was slightly higher than the previous peak reported in 2019/20. Importantly, one type of crime that has declined in recent years is that of homicide. In 2017/18 there were 159 homicides in London, followed by 121 in the next reporting year, and 144 in 2018/19, compared with 104 in 2024/25. The high number of homicides in the late 2010s also occurred at a time of heighted concerns about violence in the UK capital, especially due to a surge acid attacks and moped-enabled crimes at that time.Why did crime rise, and is the trend reversing?
One of the main factors both the police and the press attribute the increasing crime figures to is the decline in the number of police officers across England and Wales in the 2010s. London was no different in this regard, the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police had fewer officers between 2011 and 2019 than they had in 2010. At the same time, the police in general were expected to operate with far less money than they had previously. Between 2013/14 and 2018/19 the budget for the Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime in London (MOPAC) was noticeably lower than it was in 2012/13. From 2019/20 onwards, this budget has increased year-on-year, reaching 5.02 billion pounds for 2024/25, while a police recruitment drive has increased the number of officers. Controversial prevention methods such as stop and search have also increased in recent years, despite the impression that people are targeted unfairly based on their ethnic appearance.
