The number of sex offences reported to police has jumped to a record high, official figures show.
There were 214,816 recorded sex crimes in the year to September, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed, up eight per cent year-on-year.
It included the highest-ever number of recorded rapes, with 74,265 – a seven per cent rise.
The total number of sex crimes was equivalent to 588 incidents every day.
In 2003 the figure stood at less than 57,000 reported sex crimes, and the continuing rise in offences has been put down to improved recording practices by police forces.
The ONS said the latest increase was also partly down to two new sexual offences relating to ‘sending or sharing intimate photographs or films’ which were brought in under the Online Safety Act in January 2024.
Cases of shoplifting reported to police climbed five per cent year-on-year to 519,381.
But they were slightly down on the slightly overlapping period to June 2025, previously published by the ONS, when the figure stood at 529,994.
The figures also revealed a growing drugs crimewave in England and Wales.
Drugs offences recorded by the police hit just over 225,200 in the year, up from 185,500.
It was the highest level of recorded drug crime in 13 years.
The total included a 38 per cent jump in drug trafficking offences to more than 75,000 – the highest level on record – and a 15 per cent increase in drug possession offences, to almost 150,000.
Forces recorded 82,678 robberies in the year, similar to the previous year’s 82,354.
While there was a 12 per cent fall in personal robberies the figures showed a 66 per cent increase in robbery of business property, to 22,478 offences.
House burglaries were down 11 per cent year-on-year to 157,368.
Violent crime was down one per cent to 1.96million offences, from a peak of 2.1million 2023.
The violent crime total included a seven per cent fall in the number of homicides – murders and manslaughters – to 499 in the year, down from 539 in the previous 12 months.
It was the lowest number of homicides since current police recording practices began more than 20 years ago.
The ONS said the decrease was down to a 23 per cent in fatal stabbings from 227 to 174.
The total number of recorded crimes was 6,729,744, up one per cent on the previous 12 months.
Are tougher policing reforms the answer to rising sex crimes and drug offences?
Comment now A separate measure of crime – the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) – showed there were an estimated 9.3million offences committed in the year.
The CSEW, based on a large-scale survey of people’s experiences of crime, is the ONS’s preferred measure because it includes incidents not reported to police.
The ONS said the slight fall from 9.5million incidents the previous year was not ‘statistically significant’.
Separate data published by the Home Office showed the proportion of crimes which lead to a suspect being taken to court remains stubbornly low.
The year to September saw 7.8 per cent of recorded crimes leading to suspects being charged or summonsed, up to 409,157. The previous year’s figure was 6.8 per cent.
But the proportion of criminals facing justice is still far below the 15.5 per cent seen in 2015.
The figures come after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood unveiled plans to reorganise policing.
She set out on Monday how the existing 43 police force structure will be streamlined, with forces merging to as few as 12.
A new National Police Service will also be created to tackle major crime and counter-terrorism.
Despite the Government’s pledges to get tough on crime, it also emerged this week that the number of police officers has fallen dramatically under Labour.
Home Office figures showed the total number of officers in England and Wales dipped by more than 1,300, or just under one per cent, in the 12 months to September.
It was equivalent to more than three officers being lost every day.
Responding to the new crime figures, Ms Mahmood said: ‘We are having real success tackling the crimes that terrorise communities.
‘Homicides are at their lowest level for almost 50 years. Knife crime continues to fall.
‘But the crimes that tear at the fabric of communities, like shop theft and shop robbery, continue to rise and we must do more.
‘That is why we are putting 13,000 more neighbourhood officers on the beat, and have invested £2billion more in forces across the country since we took office.
‘But we must also reform policing.
‘This week, we set out reforms that will strengthen neighbourhood policing. Local forces will be focused on policing their area and protecting their communities.
‘A new National Police Force will tackle nationwide and cross-border crime, and protect us all.’
