Sexual offences recorded by the police, England and Wales
Police recorded crime: official statistics, not accredited
Sexual offences recorded by the police in England and Wales each year ending March since 2003, in all and as rape, sexual assault, sexual activity with minors and other sexual offences, with the Crime Survey for England and Wales's estimate of the share of adults who experienced sexual assault, from the ONS's sexual offences tables.
Sexual offences recorded by the police
209,079
2024/25 · the Crime Survey estimates that 1.9% of people aged 16 and over experienced sexual assault in the year ending March 2025 (3.0% of women and 0.7% of men)
Verified against source, 9 November 2026, 15:21 UTC- Sexual offences
- Rape
- Sexual Assault
- Sexual Activity with Minors
- Other sexual offences
Source: Office for National Statistics. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
23 periods, newest first
| Period | Sexual offences | Rape | Sexual Assault | Sexual Activity with Minors | Other sexual offences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 209,079 | 71,540 | 77,659 | 20,091 | 39,789 |
| 2023/24 | 188,644 | 67,828 | 74,505 | 20,632 | 25,679 |
| 2022/23 | 194,729 | 68,844 | 78,140 | 23,468 | 24,277 |
| 2021/22 | 193,357 | 70,039 | 74,824 | 24,402 | 24,092 |
| 2020/21 | 147,700 | 55,701 | 49,731 | 22,280 | 19,988 |
| 2019/20 | 163,310 | 59,219 | 58,744 | 24,508 | 20,839 |
| 2018/19 | 164,384 | 60,001 | 59,528 | 25,105 | 19,750 |
| 2017/18 | 152,838 | 54,909 | 56,036 | 23,556 | 18,337 |
| 2016/17 | 123,057 | 42,027 | 46,332 | 21,262 | 13,436 |
| 2015/16 | 107,333 | 36,361 | 41,598 | 17,489 | 11,885 |
| 2014/15 | 88,576 | 29,420 | 34,940 | 13,388 | 10,828 |
| 2013/14 | 64,232 | 20,751 | 26,115 | 8,773 | 8,593 |
| 2012/13 | 53,599 | 16,374 | 22,365 | 6,641 | 8,219 |
| 2011/12 | 52,760 | 16,038 | 22,057 | 5,779 | 8,886 |
| 2010/11 | 53,940 | 15,892 | 23,055 | 5,808 | 9,185 |
| 2009/10 | 53,006 | 15,074 | 22,103 | 5,809 | 10,020 |
| 2008/09 | 50,185 | 13,096 | 22,063 | 5,140 | 9,886 |
| 2007/08 | 52,166 | 12,673 | 23,198 | 5,141 | 11,154 |
| 2006/07 | 56,042 | 13,774 | 24,158 | 5,275 | 12,835 |
| 2005/06 | 60,287 | 14,443 | 26,189 | 5,491 | 14,164 |
| 2004/05 | 60,924 | 14,013 | 28,176 | 4,890 | 13,845 |
| 2003/04 | 60,412 | 13,272 | 31,350 | 4,110 | 11,680 |
| 2002/03 | 56,652 | 12,295 | 29,407 | 3,615 | 11,335 |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics
- Check it yourself
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/sexualoffencesprevalenceandvictimcharacteristicsenglandandwales
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 9 November 2026, 14:59 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/sexualoffencesprevalenceandvictimcharacteristicsenglandandwales/dataSHA-256 2d526f729317bcd6a64549a5d60309020178b6c1c21d46fb72b7104f54658d4c · 2,191 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/sexualoffencesprevalenceandvictimcharacteristicsenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2025/dataSHA-256 dab8ac05ef7fabb2a38449c7b55a68291fb321bcbe4a6a1d53b957c674c40735 · 643 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/sexualoffencesprevalenceandvictimcharacteristicsenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2025/sexualoffencestablesyemarch2025.xlsxSHA-256 bc0a4d23eaf2cdcfc81b58503e1519c3d09a86e9a09983f97c4d62dd6ca167ba · 381,106 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 9 November 2026, 15:21 UTC Run at 9 November 2026, 15:21 UTC; 115 of 115 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Office for National Statistics; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-09T14:59:52Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 115 of 115 figures and the headline reproduced; the meta's accreditation and prevalence match |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 115 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 115 of 115 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (3 byte-identical); the headline matches; the meta's accreditation and prevalence match |
| Pass | ONS edition is current | the yearendingmarch2025 edition counts at 2025-03-31, 588 days before retrieval (limit 900) |
| Pass | Table 13 gives Table 10's totals | 3 of 3 years in Table 13's England and Wales row match Table 10's sexual offences |
| Pass | The groups add up to all sexual offences | 23 of 23 cases of Table 10's years give rape, sexual assault, sexual activity with minors and other sexual offences adding up to all sexual offences |
| Pass | England, Wales and the British Transport Police make up England and Wales | 3 of 3 cases of Table 13's years give England, Wales and the British Transport Police adding up to England and Wales |
| Pass | All adults' prevalence lies between women's and men's | 1 of 1 cases of Table 1a's estimates for all adults lie between women's and men's |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/sexualoffencesprevalenceandvictimcharacteristicsenglandandwales – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Offences the police in England and Wales recorded, which depend on what victims report and how the police record it as well as on how much crime there is: the ONS says rises in recent years partly reflect better recording and more victims coming forward. The Crime Survey's estimate is the share of people aged 16 and over who say they experienced sexual assault, including attempts, in the last year.
- The Online Safety Act 2023 created new sexual offences, of sharing an intimate photograph or film and of sending a photograph or film of genitals, which the police record from 31 January 2024, as the notes to the Home Office's data say: the counts for the year ending March 2024 and after include them, so part of their rise is offences earlier years did not count.
- The Crime Survey's estimates are accredited official statistics; the police's counts are official statistics that are not accredited.