(Bloomberg) — Crime levels in England and Wales rose 18% last year from levels prevailing before the pandemic, driven by a jump in fraud and computer misuse.
The data cited by the Office for National Statistics also showed a decline in theft and incidents involving knives and firearms during 2021. Sexual offenses rose by more than a fifth in that time to a record, with more than a third of those relating to rapes.
The figures based on crimes reported to the police indicate how Covid-19 restrictions during the pandemic led to shifts in the nature of crime, with more activity occurring online. Officials estimate that fraud and computer misuse increased by 54%.
“While periods of national lockdown have seen decreases in the incidents of many type of crime, fraud and computer misuse offenses have not followed a lockdown-related pattern and have increased substantially,” Billy Gazard, a statistician at the ONS, said in a report on Thursday.
The report covered 2021 and focused on crime levels compared with before the pandemic hit. Looking on a year-on-year basis, it also showed:
- a 14% gain in homicides, returning to levels before Covid hit
- a 22% jump in sexual offenses to 183,587
- a 4% drop in knife crime and 5% decline in firearms offenses
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