Crime in Lewes district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (2,598), anti-social behaviour (1,795) and criminal damage and arson (652) made up 67% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 205th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Lewes district peaked in the year to August 2020 (7,679 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2022 (6,821). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 6%, 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 theft from the person (82% below) and robbery (68% below) were well below it. On the year before, anti-social behaviour rose from 1,305 to 1,795 and bicycle theft rose from 30 to 39, while shoplifting fell from 674 to 527 and possession of weapons fell from 96 to 77.

What each category covers: crime categories.

5,649 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Lewes district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 55.2 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 4% on the year ending March 2025 (5,905), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Lewes district had the 60th lowest 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 Sussex Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.8% 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 Lewes district is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Lewes district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 937 offences (17% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for arson (1.9 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.11 times), vehicle offences (0.29 times) and robbery of personal property (0.31 times).

The largest rises on the year were in bicycle theft (+86%) and trafficking of drugs (+62%). The largest falls were in vehicle offences (−37%) and other theft offences (−18%). 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 Lewes district 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. Lewes district's rate was below 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).

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

Of the 13 districts in the Sussex Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Lewes district had the 5th lowest 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.

4 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Lewes district; the highest is Eastbourne district (140.4 per 1,000) and the lowest Wealden (54.6).

Of the 34 areas within Lewes district, Newhaven South had the highest crime rate (172.7 per 1,000) and Newick the lowest (23.6), 7 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 23% of the crime recorded in Lewes district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (430).

Of the 5,705 crimes in Lewes district with a recorded outcome, 41% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.3% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,795 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Lewes district has an estimated population of 102,363 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has an older population (27%, against 19%), more retired residents (30%, against 22%) and less social housing (11%, against 17%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Lewes district average decile 6.2 (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.