This is our second statistics update, looking at the latest data on crime and violence affecting young people.
Youth crime statistics
The May update includes the latest data on: levels of crime and violence reported by police; homicides as recorded in the Home Office’s homicide index; and, child victims of modern slavery identified through the National Referral Mechanism.
It includes: young people in the criminal justice system since the start of the
pandemic; levels of crime and violence reported by police and the Office for
National Statistics; and experimental statistics from the telephone operated crime survey of England and Wales.
Summary
Insight 1: Since lockdown measures ended crime has been rising The total number of offences recorded by the police fell by 13% in 2020 compared to 2019. This includes homicides falling by 15%, robberies by 25%, and violence with injury by 9%.
Victim-based crime reported by the police increased by 32% when comparing February and December 2021. Theft-related offences saw one of the largest increases, growing from around 93,000 to over 125,000.
From April to December 2019 there were 1.34m violent offences against the person. Over the same period in 2021, these offences were 1.59m, which is an increase of 19%. This includes homicides rising by 2%, violence with injury rising by 4%, and violence without injury rising by 11%.
Insight 2: Overall homicide fell during the first year of the pandemic, but child victims increased
The total number of homicide victims fell by 12% between 2019/20 and 2020/21 from 673 to 594. However, victims aged between 0-15 rose by 37% from 43 to 59.
Insight 3: There’s growing evidence of the extent of child victims of modern slavery
The National Referral Mechanism reported 5,468 referrals of potential child victims in 2021. This is an increase of 9% from 5,028 in 2020 and significantly up from the 294 referrals in 2011.
The police recorded 3,239 modern slavery offences involving child victims in 2020/21. This is an increase of 27% from the year before, where there were 2,547.