Crime in City of London: statistics, rates and trends

Other theft (2,368), shoplifting (1,608) and violence and sexual offences (1,476) made up 56% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 1st of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest tenth.

Recorded crime in City of London peaked in the year to August 2024 (10,137 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2021 (5,396). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 22%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, City of London recorded notably more theft from the person (49.2 times the national rate), bicycle theft (28.5 times the national rate) and other theft (24.3 times the national rate). On the year before, bicycle theft rose from 264 to 355 and vehicle crime rose from 132 to 171, while other crime fell from 90 to 49 and possession of weapons fell from 67 to 45.

What each category covers: crime categories.

8,731 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in City of London in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 577.8 per 1,000 residents, higher than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 5% on the year ending March 2025 (9,184), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, City of London had the highest rate (the street-level ranking above is among the 302 districts with street-level pages on this site, over the 12 months to August 2026).

Offences recorded in City of London, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was other theft offences, with 1,890 offences (22% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for theft from the person (40.3 times the national rate), non-residential burglary (26.1 times the national rate) and bicycle theft (23.7 times the national rate). The largest rises on the year were in trafficking of drugs (+98%) and non-residential burglary (+48%).

The largest falls were in other sexual offences (−31%) and theft from the person (−26%). Robbery of business property and shoplifting are not compared with the year ending March 2025: from April 2025 the Home Office Counting Rules were clarified so that a theft from a shop in which violence is used or threatened against staff or anyone else is recorded as robbery of business property rather than shoplifting (ONS).

Recorded crime in City of London since the year ending March 2013

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2013 to 2026. City of London's rate was above the England and Wales rate in every one of those 14 years. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

Source: Home Office police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables (released 23 July 2026), gov.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0. Financial years, excluding fraud; how they differ from the street-level figures: methodology.

City of London has a higher crime rate than all 8 of its nearest districts.

Of the 6 areas within City of London, Walbrook had the highest crime rate (1,746.1 per 1,000) and Aldersgate the lowest (100.8), 17 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 25% of the crime recorded in City of London over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Shopping Area” (444).

Of the 9,474 crimes in City of London with a recorded outcome, 53% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 6.1% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 189 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

City of London has an estimated population of 15,111 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more households without a car (77%, against 23%), more private renting (48%, against 20%) and more residents with Level 4 qualifications or above (74%, against 34%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up City of London average decile 7.8 (1 = most deprived), less deprived than average.

Police-recorded crime from data.police.uk (September 2017 to August 2026), ONS population estimates and Census 2021. Definitions and limitations: methodology.