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Recorded Crime In Scotland: October 2021

18th November 2021

Photograph of Recorded Crime In Scotland: October 2021

This Official Statistics bulletin presents information on the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police in Scotland during October 2021. It also includes a comparison with the equivalent month of the previous two years.

These Official Statistics were introduced from April 2020 to inform users about the volume and type of crimes and offences recorded in Scotland during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Whilst the restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the virus will have had an impact on the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police, some caution is advised before necessarily attributing all of the changes to this situation. For example, longer term trends in some types of offending, which existed prior to the pandemic, may remain a factor.

The annual Recorded Crime in Scotland bulletin remains the primary source of information on crimes and offences recorded by the police, and has been designated as National Statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation. The most recent edition, covering the 2020-21 reporting year, was published on 28th September 2021.

Statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police provide a measure of the volume of criminal activity with which the police are faced. Crimes recorded by the police do not reveal the incidence of all crimes committed as not all crimes are reported to the police.

Summary
The police in Scotland recorded 19,708 crimes in October 2021. This was relatively unchanged from the 19,798 crimes recorded in the same month of 2020 (when pandemic restrictions were in place) and 8% lower than the 21,443 crimes recorded in the same month of 2019 (for which there was no pandemic or restrictions on movement).

In October 2021:
• Non-sexual crimes of violence were 21% higher compared to October 2020 (increasing from 780 to 941 crimes), and 11% higher compared to October 2019 (increasing from 848 to 941 crimes).

• Sexual crimes were 12% higher compared to October 2020 (increasing from 1,093 to 1,221 crimes), and 8% higher compared to October 2019 (increasing from 1,134 to 1,221 crimes).

• Crimes of dishonesty were 3% higher compared to October 2020
(increasing from 8,406 to 8,689 crimes), and 9% lower than in October 2019 (decreasing from 9,571 to 8,689).

• Fire-raising, vandalism etc. was 2% higher compared to October 2020 (increasing from 3,735 to 3,798 crimes), and 11% lower than in October 2019 (decreasing from 4,259 to 3,798).

• Other crimes were 13% lower compared to October 2020 (decreasing from 5,784 to 5,059 crimes), and 10% lower than in October 2019 (decreasing from 5,631 to 5,059).

• Fewer crimes were recorded by police in 20 (63%) out of 32 local
authorities, compared to October 2020. The number of offences recorded by the police in Scotland in October 2021 was 18,780.

This is 2% lower than the 19,236 offences recorded in the same
month of 2020 (when pandemic restrictions were in place) and 10% lower than the 20,842 offences recorded in the same month of 2019 (for which there was no pandemic or restrictions on movement).
In October 2021:

• Miscellaneous offences increased by 5% compared to October 2020 (increasing from 10,079 to 10,555), and were almost unchanged compared to October 2019 (decreasing from 10,596 to 10,555).

• Motor vehicle offences were 10% lower compared to October 2020
(decreasing from 9,157 to 8,225), and 20% lower compared to October 2019 (decreasing from 10,246 to 8,225).

As outlined above, the annual Recorded Crime in Scotland bulletin remains the primary source of information on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Scotland, including longer-term analysis of changes to each of the crime and offence groups detailed above.

Main findings
Crimes recorded by the police -
In October 2021, the police recorded 19,708 crimes. This was