Homicides fall to lowest level since police records began in 2003

The number of homicides recorded by police in England and Wales has dropped to its lowest level since current methods of reporting began in 2003.

Some 518 homicides were recorded in the year to June, including 444 offences of murder and 68 of manslaughter, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is a drop of 6% from 552 in the previous year and 27% below the pre-pandemic total of 710 in 2019/20.

The current method of recording homicides dates from 2002/03, when the figure stood at 1,047 – although this includes the 173 victims of serial killer doctor Harold Shipman.

The homicide rate in the year to June stood at 8.4 offences per million people – the lowest level since the 1970s, the Home Office said.

New crime figures for England and Wales published on Thursday also show there were 51,527 knife offences recorded by forces in the 12 months to June, down year on year by 5%.

Other types of police-recorded offences increased, with shoplifting up 13% year on year to 529,994 – just below the recent all-time high – and theft from the person at 145,860, up 5%.

Billy Gazard, of the ONS, said the data for police-recorded crime “paints a mixed picture”, adding: “Homicide and offences involving knives and guns have all fallen in the past year.

“While shoplifting continues to rise year on year, there are signs the rate of increase in reporting of these offences is slowing.”

Responding to the figures, crime and policing minister Sarah Jones said: “This Government is making real progress in protecting vulnerable young people, homicide rates have hit their lowest levels since the 1970s and knife crime is down after just one year in office.

“But we know that any life lost is one too many and we are not complacent as we seek to halve knife crime over the next decade.”

She added: “We also know that the levels of shop theft and street crime that this Government has inherited are utterly unacceptable.”

Ministers have committed to recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood policing officers by 2029, with 3,000 extra recruits to be in post by spring next year to tackle crime.

British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) said its own crime survey shows the majority of crimes go unreported because retailers have lost faith in police response.

Reacting to the latest figures, Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of Bira, urged the Government to swiftly introduce its plan for a “Winter of Action” to renew the focus on shoplifting after its summer initiative.

He also called for “consistent police response standards across all forces”.

Overall, police forces recorded 6.6 million crimes in England and Wales in the year to June, down by 1% from 6.7 million in the previous 12 months.

Separate figures from the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales suggest people aged 16 and over experienced 9.3 million incidents of crime in the year to June 2025, up slightly from 9.2 million in the previous 12 months.

The main driver of the rise was a 14% rise in fraud, which accounts for an estimated 4.1 million incidents, including 2.5 million incidents of bank and credit account fraud.

The overall total of 9.3 million incidents in 2024/25 is 17% lower than the 11.2 million for 2016/17, when fraud and computer misuse were first included.

Chief executive of Victim Support, Katie Kempen, said while crime levels remain lower than a decade ago, millions of people continue to be harmed and the impact on victims is “life-changing”.

She added: “The sharp rise in fraud cases is particularly alarming.

“These crimes don’t just drain bank accounts – they destroy trust, damage mental health and leave victims feeling ashamed and alone.”

The survey “provides a reliable measure of crime trends for the population, and the offence types it covers” because it is not affected by police reporting or recording changes, the ONS said.

It covers a range of personal and household victim-based crime, including theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse and violence with or without injury, but does not include sexual offences, stalking, harassment and domestic abuse, which are presented separately.