Crime in Northumberland: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (7,992), anti-social behaviour (5,993) and shoplifting (2,527) made up 64% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 191st of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

The year to August 2026 had the least recorded crime in Northumberland of any year here (25,844 crimes). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 27%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Northumberland recorded notably more other crime (58% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (82% below) and robbery (65% below). On the year before, robbery rose from 104 to 157 and theft from the person rose from 72 to 103, while drugs fell from 774 to 433 and other theft fell from 1,629 to 1,138.

What each category covers: crime categories.

22,969 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Northumberland in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 69.3 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Northumberland had the 118th 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 Northumbria Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.4% 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 Northumberland is a slight undercount.

No change on the year or longer series is given for Northumberland: comparable figures start in the year ending March 2026, because the share of crimes in the Northumbria Police area not assigned to a district moved from 0.3% in the year ending March 2025 to 1.4% in the year ending March 2026, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Offences recorded in Northumberland, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 3,234 offences (14% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for death or serious injury caused by unlawful driving (2.2 times the national rate) and arson (1.3 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.12 times), robbery of personal property (0.18 times) and bicycle theft (0.53 times).

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

Of the 6 districts in the Northumbria Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Northumberland had the 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.

Every one of the 8 nearest districts has a higher crime rate than Northumberland.

Of the 111 areas within Northumberland, Croft had the highest crime rate (238.0 per 1,000) and Longhoughton the lowest (10.3), 23 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 19% of the crime recorded in Northumberland over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (1,505).

Of the 19,851 crimes in Northumberland with a recorded outcome, 34% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 0.8% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 5,993 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Northumberland has an estimated population of 331,420 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer students (4.4%, against 7.9%), an older population (27%, against 19%) and more retired residents (30%, against 22%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Northumberland average decile 5.4 (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.