Crime in Isle of Wight: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (5,333), anti-social behaviour (1,450) and public order (1,072) made up 66% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 164th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Isle of Wight peaked in the year to August 2022 (13,277 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2019 (10,882). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it was almost unchanged, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

No category with at least 20 crimes was notably above the England and Wales rate, and vehicle crime (80% below) and theft from the person (77% below) were well below it. On the year before, robbery rose from 47 to 79, while vehicle crime fell from 174 to 142.

What each category covers: crime categories.

10,776 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Isle of Wight in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 76.1 per 1,000 residents, close to the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was almost unchanged on the year ending March 2025 (10,755), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Isle of Wight had the 122nd 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).

Of the crimes recorded in the Hampshire Police area in the year ending March 2026, 2.2% were not assigned to a district. Those crimes are counted in the force and England and Wales totals but in no district, so the figure for Isle of Wight is an undercount.

Offences recorded in Isle of Wight, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was stalking and harassment, with 1,773 offences (16% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for other sexual offences (1.3 times the national rate) and possession of drugs (1.3 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.21 times), vehicle offences (0.24 times) and robbery of personal property (0.29 times).

The largest rises on the year were in non-residential burglary (+43%) and bicycle theft (+35%). The largest falls were in theft from the person (−10%). 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 Isle of Wight since the year ending March 2021

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2021 to 2026. Isle of Wight's rate was below the England and Wales rate in every one of those 6 years. The series starts in the year ending March 2021 because the share of crimes in the Hampshire Police area not assigned to a district moved from 1.5% in the year ending March 2020 to 2.6% in the year ending March 2021, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

Districts in the Hampshire Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 11 districts in the Hampshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Isle of Wight had the 3rd highest rate. Basingstoke and Deane, Hart and Rushmoor are not in the table because the Home Office publishes each of them jointly with a neighbouring district, as one community safety partnership.

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.

3 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Isle of Wight; the highest is Southampton district (133.7 per 1,000) and the lowest New Forest (58.3).

Of the 57 areas within Isle of Wight, Newport Central had the highest crime rate (329.7 per 1,000) and Whitwell (Isle of Wight) the lowest (21.6), 15 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 21% of the crime recorded in Isle of Wight over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (670).

Of the 10,381 crimes in Isle of Wight with a recorded outcome, 23% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 7.5% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,450 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Isle of Wight has an estimated population of 141,660 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has an older population (30%, against 19%), more retired residents (33%, against 22%) and fewer students (4.3%, against 7.9%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Isle of Wight average decile 4.3 (1 = most deprived), more 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.