Recorded Crime in Scotland: December 2020

Official Statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Scotland for December 2020.


Tables

Table 1: Crimes recorded by the police, Scotland, December 2019 and December 2020

Table 2: Offences recorded by the police, Scotland, December 2019 and December 2020

Table 3: Crimes recorded by the police by local authority, Scotland, December 2019 and December 2020

Table 4: Crimes recorded by the police, Scotland, April to December 2019 and April to December 2020

Table 5: Offences recorded by the police, Scotland, April to December 2019 and April to December 2020

Notes for these tables

  • The symbol 'n/r' is used to denote where a percentage change figure is not reported. This is done if the denominator is less than ten as any resulting figure may be misleading.
  • Please note that tables 1, 2, 4 and 5 can be accessed at local authority level online via the following link: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/978-1-80004-594-1
Table 1: Crimes recorded by the police, Scotland, December 2019 and December 2020
December % Change since December 2019
Crime group 2019 2020
Total crimes1 19,209 18,229 -5%
Non-sexual crimes of violence 723 698 -3%
Homicide etc. 6 9 n/r
Attempted murder & serious assault 335 260 -22%
Robbery 123 125 2%
Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 134 128 -4%
Other violence 125 176 41%
Sexual crimes 968 885 -9%
Rape & attempted rape 175 142 -19%
Sexual assault 341 278 -18%
Crimes associated with prostitution 6 7 n/r
Other sexual crimes 446 458 3%
Crimes of dishonesty 8,502 7,767 -9%
Housebreaking 1,019 862 -15%
Theft by opening a lockfast place (OLP) 154 115 -25%
Theft from a motor vehicle by OLP 200 173 -14%
Theft of a motor vehicle 381 346 -9%
Shoplifting 2,377 1,829 -23%
Other theft 3,090 2,591 -16%
Fraud 905 1,497 65%
Other dishonesty 376 354 -6%
Fire-raising, vandalism etc. 3,930 3,605 -8%
Fire-raising 217 181 -17%
Vandalism etc. 3,713 3,424 -8%
Other crimes 5,086 5,274 4%
Crimes against public justice 1,728 1,928 12%
Handling offensive weapons 716 656 -8%
Not used in other criminal activity 313 326 4%
Used in other criminal activity 403 330 -18%
Drugs 2,627 2,677 2%
Other 15 13 -13%

1. The total figure for recorded crime excludes the new crimes being recorded under the recently enacted coronavirus legislation. Please see the Crimes recorded under coronavirus legislation section for more information.

Table 2: Offences recorded by the police, Scotland, December 2019 and December 2020
December % Change since December 2019
Crime group 2019 2020
Total offences 20,597 18,374 -11%
Miscellaneous offences 10,938 9,382 -14%
Common assault 5,175 4,185 -19%
Breach of the peace etc. 4,197 3,703 -12%
Drunkenness and other disorderly conduct 280 254 -9%
Urinating etc. 222 37 -83%
Other miscellaneous offences 1,064 1,203 13%
Motor vehicle offences 9,659 8,992 -7%
Dangerous and careless driving 1,009 893 -11%
Driving under the influence 693 578 -17%
Speeding 1,733 1,561 -10%
Unlawful use of vehicle 3,306 3,602 9%
Vehicle defect offences 568 436 -23%
Seat belt offences 125 83 -34%
Mobile phone offences 131 86 -34%
Other motor vehicle offences 2,094 1,753 -16%
Table 3: Crimes recorded by the police by local authority, Scotland, December 2019 and December 2020
December Change since December 2019
2019 2020
Aberdeen City 934 929 -1%
Aberdeenshire 521 491 -6%
Angus 202 279 38%
Argyll & Bute 149 190 28%
Clackmannanshire 178 142 -20%
Dumfries & Galloway 462 504 9%
Dundee City 805 804 0%
East Ayrshire 489 452 -8%
East Dunbartonshire 215 230 7%
East Lothian 292 352 21%
East Renfrewshire 177 139 -21%
Edinburgh City 2,259 1,964 -13%
Falkirk 563 534 -5%
Fife 1,052 1,175 12%
Glasgow City 3,300 2,732 -17%
Highland 655 590 -10%
Inverclyde 322 268 -17%
Midlothian 320 344 8%
Moray 227 240 6%
Na h-Eileanan Siar 65 42 -35%
North Ayrshire 475 543 14%
North Lanarkshire 1,480 1,394 -6%
Orkney Islands 25 18 -28%
Perth & Kinross 382 396 4%
Renfrewshire 619 586 -5%
Scottish Borders 311 322 4%
Shetland Islands 24 39 63%
South Ayrshire 390 296 -24%
South Lanarkshire 1,121 1,041 -7%
Stirling 315 243 -23%
West Dunbartonshire 325 335 3%
West Lothian 555 615 11%
Scotland1 19,209 18,229 -5%

1. The total figure for recorded crime excludes the new crimes being recorded under the recently enacted coronavirus legislation. Please see the Crimes recorded under coronavirus legislation section for more information.

Table 4: Crimes recorded by the police, Scotland, April to December 2019 and April to December 2020
Crime group April to December 2019 April to December 2020 % Change since 2019
Total crimes1 187,513 176,562 -6%
Non-sexual crimes of violence 7,191 6,677 -7%
Homicide etc. 94 75 -20%
Attempted murder & serious assault 3,260 2,681 -18%
Robbery 1,279 1,300 2%
Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 1,300 1,167 -10%
Other violence 1,258 1,454 16%
Sexual crimes 10,159 9,469 -7%
Rape & attempted rape 1,849 1,676 -9%
Sexual assault 3,803 2,989 -21%
Crimes associated with prostitution 71 36 -49%
Other sexual crimes 4,436 4,768 7%
Crimes of dishonesty 83,717 72,804 -13%
Housebreaking 9,524 7,906 -17%
Theft by opening a lockfast place (OLP) 1,328 941 -29%
Theft from a motor vehicle by OLP 2,065 1,681 -19%
Theft of a motor vehicle 3,694 3,372 -9%
Shoplifting 23,715 16,125 -32%
Other theft 31,933 26,180 -18%
Fraud 7,879 12,907 64%
Other dishonesty 3,579 3,692 3%
Fire-raising, vandalism etc. 36,649 32,760 -11%
Fire-raising 2,092 2,033 -3%
Vandalism etc. 34,557 30,727 -11%
Other crimes 49,797 54,852 10%
Crimes against public justice 14,720 19,368 32%
Handling offensive weapons 7,413 7,875 6%
Not used in other criminal activity 3,408 3,639 7%
Used in other criminal activity 4,005 4,236 6%
Drugs 27,503 27,481 0%
Other 161 128 -20%

1. The total figure for recorded crime excludes the new crimes being recorded under the recently enacted coronavirus legislation. Please see the Crimes recorded under coronavirus legislation section for more information.

Table 5: Offences recorded by the police, Scotland, April to December 2019 and April to December 2020
Crime group April to December 2019 April to December 2020 % Change since 2019
Total offences 192,039 179,967 -6%
Miscellaneous offences 99,848 96,742 -3%
Common assault 44,474 40,112 -10%
Breach of the peace etc. 39,162 39,023 0%
Drunkenness and other disorderly conduct 4,440 4,730 7%
Urinating etc. 1,822 717 -61%
Other miscellaneous offences 9,950 12,160 22%
Motor vehicle offences 92,191 83,225 -10%
Dangerous and careless driving 8,773 8,670 -1%
Driving under the influence 4,926 6,361 29%
Speeding 22,301 16,150 -28%
Unlawful use of vehicle 28,974 29,664 2%
Vehicle defect offences 5,278 4,813 -9%
Seat belt offences 2,262 1,382 -39%
Mobile phone offences 1,887 1,304 -31%
Other motor vehicle offences 17,790 14,881 -16%

Contact

Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot

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