Crime in Denbighshire: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (4,756), anti-social behaviour (2,044) and shoplifting (816) made up 70% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 70th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest quarter.

Recorded crime in Denbighshire peaked in the year to August 2022 (13,336 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2018 (10,860). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it was almost unchanged, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Denbighshire recorded notably more violence and sexual offences (41% above the national rate) and anti-social behaviour (35% above the national rate), and notably less robbery (81% below) and vehicle crime (71% below). On the year before, bicycle theft rose from 53 to 74 and possession of weapons rose from 85 to 100, while robbery fell from 36 to 25.

What each category covers: crime categories.

9,301 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Denbighshire in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 94.7 per 1,000 residents, close to the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 2% on the year ending March 2025 (9,477), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Denbighshire had the 63rd 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 Denbighshire, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,926 offences (21% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for arson (1.6 times the national rate), violence without injury (1.5 times the national rate) and miscellaneous crimes against society (1.5 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.16 times), vehicle offences (0.34 times) and residential burglary (0.70 times).

The largest rises on the year were in trafficking of drugs (+55%) and bicycle theft (+45%). The largest falls were in theft from the person (−34%) and arson (−34%). 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 Denbighshire 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. Denbighshire's rate was above the England and Wales rate in 10 of those 14 years and below it in 4. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

Districts in the North Wales Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 6 districts in the North Wales Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Denbighshire had the highest rate.

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.

1 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Denbighshire; the highest is Liverpool district (136.2 per 1,000) and the lowest Cheshire West and Chester (73.4).

Of the 36 areas within Denbighshire, Rhyl West had the highest crime rate (583.2 per 1,000) and Moel Famau the lowest (23.2), 25 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 25% of the crime recorded in Denbighshire over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (1,035).

Of the 8,832 crimes in Denbighshire with a recorded outcome, 22% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 5.5% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 2,044 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Denbighshire has an estimated population of 98,202 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has an older population (25%, against 19%), more retired residents (28%, against 22%) and fewer students (5.6%, against 7.9%). On the Wales WIMD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Denbighshire average decile 5.5 (1 = most deprived), close to the middle.

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