How much crime is there, and what happens next?
The Crime Survey estimated 4.33 million crimes (excluding fraud) in England and Wales in the year to March 2026. The police recorded 5,235,213 crimes in the year to March 2026, and 86,779 people were in prison on 5 October 2026.
The detail
Each page has the figures, the trend, a table and the questions people ask.
Million crimes on the Crime Survey and what the police recorded.
See crime overall →Violence, homicides, robbery and sexual offences.
See violent crime →Theft, burglary and shoplifting.
See theft →Million incidents of fraud and computer misuse.
See fraud →People in prison and the space available, week by week.
See prisons →Homicides per 100,000 people.
Compare countries →In numbers
Each measure’s recent trend (up to ten years), with the latest figure.
| Measure | Recent trend | Latest |
|---|---|---|
| Crime reported to the Crime Survey, excluding fraud 2025-26 | 4.33 | |
| Crimes recorded by the police, excluding fraud 2025-26 | 5,235,213 | |
| Violent crimes recorded by the police 2025-26 | 1,962,413 | |
| Prison population, England and Wales 5 October 2026 | 86,779 |
At a glance
What’s this?
The number of crimes people say they experienced, from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, leaving out fraud and computer misuse so it can be compared back to 1981.
What it cannot tell you: It counts crimes people remember and report to interviewers, so it misses crimes against children under 10, people not living in households and crimes with no clear victim. There was no survey for the years ending March 2021 and 2022 because of the pandemic, so those years are blank.
What’s this?
The number of crimes the police in England and Wales recorded in the year (not including fraud, which is recorded separately).
What it cannot tell you: It counts crimes that people report to the police and the police record, so it rises when people report more or the police record more carefully, not only when there is more crime.
What’s this?
The number of violence against the person offences the police recorded in England and Wales.
What it cannot tell you: It counts crimes that people report to the police and the police record, so it rises when people report more or the police record more carefully, not only when there is more crime.
What’s this?
The number of people held in prisons in England and Wales at the start of each week, from the weekly briefing.
What it cannot tell you: It counts people in prison, not people sentenced: it also depends on how long sentences are and how many are held on remand. Capacity is a measure of the space the prison service can run, not of the buildings.
Questions people ask
Why are there two measures of crime?
The Crime Survey asks people about their experiences, including crimes they did not report. Police figures count what is reported and recorded. They answer different questions.
Does this cover Scotland and Northern Ireland?
No. Each publishes its own crime statistics.
Sources: ONS (Crime Survey for England and Wales), Home Office (police recorded crime), Ministry of Justice (prisons), World Bank (comparisons). Updated every night. Each chart has a CSV and a Share button.
See also: Public spending by area · Everything over time