Overall levels of crime showed falls in recent decades, but levels have remained broadly stable in recent years.

In the last year there has been no change in overall levels of crime although this hides variation seen in individual crime types.

Headline figures

• Theft showed a 13% increase compared with the year ending March 2017. Despite this increase, estimates of theft remain much lower than 20 years ago.
• a 2% increase in vehicle offences, which includes an 8% increase in the subcategory of “theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle”
• an 11% increase in robbery
• a 3% decrease in burglaries, following rises seen in the previous two years
• a 17% increase in fraud offences
• a 21% decrease in computer misuse

Figures for year ending March 2019,	Things to note
Computer misuse	21% decrease (to 966,000 offences) in computer misuse offences estimated by the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).	The CSEW is the best source for measuring the volume of computer misuse offences as it captures offences that go unreported.
Fraud	17% increase in fraud offences estimated by the CSEW (to 3,809,000 offences).	The CSEW provides the best indication of the volume of fraud offences experienced by individuals as it captures the more frequent lower-harm cases that are likely to go unreported to the authorities.

There are figures available for all types of crime – above is just for computer misuse and fraud.

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