Murders fall to lowest level in 40 years as knife crime plummets
Despite this drop, rapes continued to rise in England and Wales
The number of murders in England and Wales fell to its lowest level in 40 years over the last year, new data shows.
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Police-recorded homicides in England and Wales have fallen to their lowest level in more than 40 years – driven by a drop in knife crime, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.
Some 499 homicides were recorded in the year to September 2025, down 7% from 539 in the previous 12 months.
It is the lowest annual total since 1983, when 482 offences were recorded as homicides.
Read more: Armed police rush to leafy west London street following reports of man 'in possession of knives'
The fall reflects a steep drop in the number of homicides involving a knife or sharp instrument, which stood at 174 in the year to September 2025, down 23% from 227 in the previous 12 months.
The overall level of knife crime has also fallen, with 50,430 offences in the year to September, down 9% from 55,149.
While violent crime fell, the number of sexual offences in England and Wales has risen sharply over the last year.
Rapes were up 7 per cent, reaching 74,265 in the year to September 2025.
Police in England and Wales recorded 214,816 sexual offences in the year to September 2025, an eight per cent rise on the previous year, according to new data published by the Office for National Statistics.
Billy Gazard, of the ONS, said: “While the crime survey paints a relatively stable picture, many aspects of violent crime and theft recorded by the police have fallen in the past 12 months.
“Homicide and gun crime are at the lowest levels seen this century, while knife crime has also decreased.
“The majority of police forces have seen knife crime fall in the past year, including the larger urban Greater Manchester, Metropolitan and West Midlands areas.
“This is supported by NHS data, which continue to show a decrease in hospital admissions for assault by a sharp object.”
The data comes as figures published by the Metropolitan Police earlier this month showed homicides in the capital dropped to the lowest level in more than a decade last year.
There were 97 homicides in London in 2025, down 11% from 109 in 2024, and the lowest number recorded since 95 homicides 11 years ago, in 2014.
The latest ONS data also shows shoplifting increased in the year to September, but is slightly below record levels seen in the 12 months to March 2025.
There were 519,381 shoplifting offences in the year to September, up 5% from 492,660 the previous year.
A total of 530,439 offences were recorded in the year to March 2025.
Separate figures from the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales also suggested bank and credit card fraud increased by 19% to 2.6 million incidents in the year to September.
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.
Reacting to the figures, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “We are having real success tackling the crimes that terrorise communities.
“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 £2 billion more in forces across the country since we took office.”
Under policing reforms announced by the Home Secretary on Monday, the number of police forces will be slashed and new, larger forces will be divided into local areas corresponding with cities, towns and boroughs.
A National Police Service (NPS) will also be created to tackle serious and complex crimes such as terrorism and fraud, which is hoped will lift the burden on local forces and enable them to focus on day-to-day policing.
Ministers have already committed to recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood policing officers by 2029, with 3,000 recruits expected to be in post by spring this year.