Drop in Incidences of Crime in Scotland

The overall level of crime in Scotland and the likelihood of being a victim in 2016/17 have both fallen compared to 2008/09, according to newly published figures from Scotland’s Chief Statistician. 

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) 2016-17 gives an in-depth insight into the extent and prevalence of crime in Scotland over the year. It shows that:

• There were an estimated 712,000 crimes in 2016/17, down by around a third (32%) since the 1,045,000 crimes estimated in 2008/09. 
• Just over two-thirds of crime (68%) was property-related. As in previous years, incidents of vandalism accounted for the largest proportion of property crime incidents (34%), followed by other household theft (including bicycle theft) (27%) and personal theft (26%). The remainder were incidents of motor vehicle related theft (8%) and housebreaking (5%).
• Around a third of all crime was violent crime. Consistent with previous findings, the majority of violent crime incidents in 2016/17 were cases of minor assault resulting in no or negligible injury (72%). Other violent crimes comprised minor assault with injury (13%), serious assault (7%), attempted assault (4%) and robbery (3%).

The survey also revealed that most adults (86.6%) experienced no crime in 2016/17. The SCJS estimates that the proportion of adults experiencing crime has fallen from around one in five in 2008/09 (20.4%), to fewer than one in seven in 2016/17 (13.4%). In 2016/17, 11.5% of adults were estimated to have been a victim of property crime and 2.9% of adults a victim of violent crime.

The likelihood of being a victim of any crime in 2016/17 was apparently higher amongst younger adults (aged 16-24), those living in the most deprived areas and adults living in urban areas. This pattern was also found across both property and violent crime categories.

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