WIREDGOV

An Accredited Official Statistics Publication for Scotland.

Scotland’s Chief Statistician today released the main findings of the 2023/24 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS).

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey shows that most adults in Scotland (80.1%) were not victims of any SCJS crime in 2023/24, including fraud and computer misuse for the first time.

One-in-five (19.9%) were estimated to have experienced at least one crime, this included property crime (10.3% of adults), violent crime (2.9%) and fraud and computer misuse (9.5%).

The latest findings shows that the overall level of property and violent crime combined and the likelihood of being a victim of these crimes has increased since 2021/22. However, no change is detected with the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20, and both measures are down since 2008/09.

The latest findings also show that people feel safer in their local communities though there has been a fall in confidence in the police across a range of measures.

The extent and prevalence of crime in Scotland in 2023/24

The proportion of adults who experienced at least one property or violent crime increased from 10.0% in 2021/22 to 12.1% in 2023/24. The latest figure remains lower than 2008/09 (20.4%) and is not statistically different from the pre-Covid position in 2019/20 (11.9%).

There were an estimated 1,185,000 crimes in 2023/24, of which 524,000 (44%) were fraud and computer misuse crimes, 429,000 (36%) were property crime and 231,000 (20%) were violent crimes.

The estimated volume of violent and property crimes individually have both fallen over the longer term, down 27% and 41% respectively since 2008/09. Estimated violent crime increased by 73% since 2021/22 but remains at a similar level to the pre-pandemic position in 2019/20, while property crime has remained at a similar level to both 2019/20 and 2021/22.

Consistent with previous years, the majority of violent incidents were cases of minor assault resulting in no or negligible injury (61%), with instances of serious assault (8%) and robbery (5%) remaining relatively uncommon.

Victims of two or more incidents (5.8% of adults) accounted for over half (55%) of all crime in 2023/24.

This report includes the first findings on the nature of and extent of fraud and computer misuse experienced in Scotland. These results show that, in 2023/24, around one-in-ten adults (9.5%) were the victim of a fraud or computer misuse crime, with around half of these crimes being bank and credit card fraud (47%). The survey also shows that most people who lost money through fraud were ultimately reimbursed.

Crime continues to be experienced disproportionately among some groups in the population. The likelihood of experiencing any SCJS crime, including fraud and computer misuse, in 2023/24 was higher among those aged 16 to 24, for adults who are disabled and those living in urban areas of Scotland. Many population groups have seen the likelihood of experiencing any property or violent crime decrease since 2008/09.

In 2023/24, the latest comparable survey period, overall crime victimisation rates in Scotland (including fraud and computer misuse) were higher to those in England and Wales (19.9% and 16.1%). When looking at property and violent crimes alone, the rate in Scotland was also higher than in England and Wales (12.1% compared to 10.1%). This is a change to the position in 2021/22, when both areas had a similar victimisation rate and 2019/20, when Scotland had a lower rate (11.9% compared to 13.3%).

Public perceptions of the police, the justice system and crime in Scotland

Fewer than half of adults (45%) said the police in their local area do an excellent or good job. This is a decrease from 61% in 2012/13 and from 49% in 2021/22. Males and those living in urban areas were less likely to feel positively about the police than comparator groups.

The survey also looks at attitudes towards more specific elements of policing (including policing effectiveness, community engagement and fairness). Most adults expressed confidence in the local police force's capability across various aspects of police 'effectiveness,' including their ability to deal with incidents as they occur and solve crimes. An exception was in preventing crime where 42% of adults were confident in the police. These measures of confidence in police effectiveness have decreased from a high in 2014/15, with some returning to 2008/09 levels.

Over two thirds (71%) of respondents thought that the local crime rate had stayed the same or reduced in the two years prior to interview, down from 76% in 2021/22 and at a similar level to 2008/09. In 2023/24, the majority of adults in Scotland said they felt very or fairly safe walking alone in their local area after dark (75%) and when in their home alone at night (95%).

Generally the public were fairly confident about the operation of the justice system in Scotland. For example, around three-quarters of adults (73%) were confident that the justice system allows all those accused of crimes to get a fair trial regardless of who they are. However, adults were less confident on other related measures, for example, 35% were confident that it deals with cases promptly and efficiently, with 52% saying they were not confident.

 Background

The figures released today were produced in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

The full statistical publication is available on the Scottish Government website.

This report covers 4,970 face to face interviews were conducted between July 2023 and April 2024. Participants were adults (aged 16 and over) living in private households in Scotland. There was a 46.0% response rate which is comparable to that of 2021/22 (47.3%) which itself saw a large fall following the COVID-19 pandemic

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey is one of the Scottish Government’s flagship national surveys. The survey allows the people of Scotland to independently report their experiences and perceptions of crime, and thus influence the continued development and improvement of the Scottish justice system. The SCJS also provides a range of additional information, including details on the characteristics of victims and offenders of crime. It also captures adults’ perceptions of policing and the justice system.

The publication presents statistics on the extent of crime in Scotland, importantly including crime that is not reported to the police. However, it is limited to crimes against adults resident in households, and also does not cover all crime types. Experiences of sexual offences are not included in the main estimates and are instead collected in the self-completion section. Police recorded crime is a measure of those crimes reported to the police and recorded by them as a crime or offence.

More information about the survey, including the online data tables for 2023/24 results are available on the Scottish Government website.

Further breakdowns for some smaller population groups are also being published on perception of crime in the local area from the Scottish Survey Core Questions, which combines data from the three large Scottish Government household surveys. These breakdowns are available on the Scottish Survey Core Questions webpage.

As with all surveys, SCJS results are estimates, not precise figures. Results are only described as ‘increases’ or ‘decreases’ where statistical tests identify statistically significant differences. Where they do not detect significant change, results are reported as showing ‘no change’ – even if the estimate from one year appears greater or smaller than the comparator year. Importantly, this does not mean there has definitely been no change, but that the sample is not large enough to confidently detect any change that has or has not occurred. These issues are common to all population surveys, particularly on issues that affect only a minority of people. Often, where changes and trends emerge, they can be more easily detected over longer time periods, as cumulative changes build year-on-year.

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. Further information on Crime and Justice statistics within Scotland or the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be found on the Scottish Government website.