Knife crime offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales have risen in recent years and are almost back at levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Here are the key numbers and trends in the latest knife crime statistics, which were published on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
– How many offences are being recorded?
Some 55,008 offences were recorded by forces in England and Wales in the 12 months to September 2024.
This is up 4% from 52,969 offences in the previous 12 months, and is almost level with the 55,170 offences in the pre-Covid year ending March 2020.
– What are the figures for different types of violent knife crime?
There has been a rise in the number of robberies involving a knife or sharp instrument, jumping from 21,588 in the year to September 2023 to 23,390 in the year to September 2024, a rise of 8% – though the total is still lower than before the pandemic, with 24,419 recorded in 2019/20.
Knife-enabled homicides stood at 228 in the 12 months to September 2024, down 14% from 264 in the previous year and lower than pre-pandemic figures (265 in 2019/20).
The number of offences classed as knife-enabled threats to kill have risen slightly, up 2% year-on-year from 5,584 to 5,674.
Both of these totals are higher than those recorded before the pandemic (4,935 in 2019/20).
– What are the figures for possession of knives?
The number of offences classed as “possession of an article with a blade or point” stood at 27,945 in the 12 months to September 2024, down 1% year-on-year from 28,181.
The latest total is 20% higher than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20 (23,264) and nearly double the figure for 2016/17 (14,450).
– How do the figures break down by force?
Of the 55,008 knife crime offences in England and Wales in the year to September 2024, 30% (16,521) were recorded by the Metropolitan Police, 9% (4,930) by West Midlands Police, 6% (3,427) by Greater Manchester Police and 4% (2,318) by West Yorkshire Police.
When looking at the number of offences per population, the Metropolitan Police had the highest rate, with 185 per 100,000 people, followed by West Midlands Police (165 per 100,000), Cleveland Police (141 per 100,000) and Greater Manchester Police (116 per 100,000).
Of the 44 forces (including British Transport Police) operating in England and Wales, 23 saw a year-on-year increase in knife crime offences in the 12 months to September 2024.
The largest percentage increases were recorded by British Transport Police (up 33.6%), Dyfed-Powys (up 25.6%), Avon & Somerset (up 22.6%) and the Metropolitan Police (up 18.1%).
City of London Police saw a jump of 47.6%, but this was based on a very low number of offences (42 in the year ending September 2023, 62 in the year to September 2024).
Suffolk recorded the largest percentage drop (down 26.2%), followed by Gloucestershire (down 23.9%), Warwickshire (down 22.8%) and Wiltshire (down 19.1%).
