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The Office for National Statistics has improved the way it collects data on victims of domestic abuse to capture a wider range of abuse types and behaviours. 

New Crime Survey for England and Wales questions have been introduced which align more closely with new laws on coercive and controlling behaviour and the definition of domestic abuse introduced in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. This includes questions being added asking about health abuse and marital status-related abuse. 

The ONS now estimates 1 in 4 adults have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 compared with 1 in 5 adults under the previous questions. 

Meghan Elkin, the ONS' Head of Crime Statistics, said:

"The way domestic abuse manifests is constantly changing and is difficult to measure.

"In developing these questions, we have listened to victims and survivors of domestic abuse alongside a range of users from charities to academics and other government departments.

"These new questions are a positive step in better understanding domestic abuse and providing vital information to all those working to improve outcomes and support for victims."

Today, the ONS has announced the estimates published in the Redevelopment of domestic abuse statistics: research update December 2024 article should be treated as official statistics. Official statistics produced on domestic abuse will now be derived from the new domestic abuse questions. 

From the new questions, we estimate that, for the survey year ending March 2024, 8.0% of people aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse in the last year (equivalent to 3.9 million people). When breaking the figures down by sex, we estimate 9.5% of women (2.3 million) and 6.5% of men (1.5 million) have experienced domestic abuse in the last year. 

We estimate 1 in 4 (26.1%) people aged 16 years and over have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 years, (equivalent to 12.6 million people). Split by sex, 30.3% of women and 21.7% of men have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 years (equivalent to 7.4 million and 5.1 million, respectively). 

It is not possible to compare the estimates derived from both sets of questions or to adjust the new estimates to enable direct comparisons to be made.  

However, for context to understand the impact of this improvement, the previous CSEW questions estimated that 1 in 5 people aged 16 years and over (20.5%) had experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16 years, for the survey year ending March 2024. The estimates derived from the previous questions remain the official estimates for data from the year ending March 2005 to the year ending March 2023. 

Mrs Elkin explains:

"The new approach has resulted in a higher prevalence rate as we have introduced questions to ask about types of abuse not previously covered by the crime survey, such as health abuse and forced marriage.

"And for types of abuse that were covered, we are now asking about a wider range of behaviours that victims may be able to identify with. For example, more detail on economic abuse, such as someone deliberately getting you into debt or preventing you from getting a job. 

"Given this, it’s not possible to make direct comparisons between the previous and the new estimates."

The new questions provide opportunities to explore and present the lived experiences of victims of domestic abuse to aid government, law enforcement, victim services, academia and the general public in better supporting victims, and ultimately helping prevent domestic abuse. 

Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, said:

"Domestic abuse has a devastating impact on the millions of lives it touches but for too long the scale of the problem and its pervasiveness - has remained hidden.

"Developing new ways to further our understanding of this terrible crime so we can put in place measures to tackle it and ensure survivors receive the support they need is absolutely vital.

"I welcome the ongoing focus on domestic abuse by the ONS, as only through knowing the full picture will we be able to rid society of it for good."  

The ONS plans to release more insight from the new questions by looking at both behaviours and the impact on victims later this year.   

Commenting on the news, Sarika Seshadri, Head of Research and Evaluation at Women's Aid, said:

"The new questions will provide insight into victim-survivors' experiences of domestic abuse since the age of 16, including detailed profiles of which victim-survivors are experiencing the highest impact and highest harm forms of abuse. 

"By understanding not only prevalence but impact, and how this is affecting different groups of the population, we will be able to identify to what extent policies and practice are either reducing or exacerbating experiences of domestic abuse, and in particular for whom, so that we can develop targeted and meaningful interventions."

The ONS plans to publish headline estimates from the new questions alongside its annual Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2025 bulletin in July, and then more detailed estimates in its annual domestic abuse compendium later in 2025. 

Note for editors 

• An evaluation article -- published Friday - provides a summary of the evidence behind our decision to change to using new survey questions on the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) to measure domestic abuse from April 2025. 
• Health abuse includes anything from depriving a person of daily essentials, such as food and sleep, to forcing someone to terminate pregnancy or denying someone medical assistance. Marital status-related abuse includes forced marriage and the prevention of marrying someone of your choice.  
• While the new questions better align with the offence of coercive and controlling behaviour, it is not possible to separate out an estimate for victims of this offence. 
• In developing the new questions, the ONS worked with a consortium led by the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol, that also involved the College of Policing, Women's Aid Federation of England, Men's Advice Line, IMKAAN and Welsh Women's Aid.