Crime in Pembrokeshire: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (5,416), anti-social behaviour (1,239) and criminal damage and arson (1,143) made up 69% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 130th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the upper half.

Recorded crime in Pembrokeshire peaked in the year to August 2022 (13,002 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2024 (7,833). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 10%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Pembrokeshire recorded notably more criminal damage and arson (35% above the national rate), possession of weapons (26% above the national rate) and violence and sexual offences (26% above the national rate), and notably less robbery (84% below) and theft from the person (78% below). On the year before, possession of weapons rose from 115 to 154 and shoplifting rose from 488 to 595, while drugs fell from 438 to 320 and bicycle theft fell from 34 to 27.

What each category covers: crime categories.

9,094 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Pembrokeshire in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 72.3 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 (9,471), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Pembrokeshire had the 135th 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 Dyfed-Powys Police area in the year ending March 2026, 7.6% 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 Pembrokeshire is an undercount.

No longer series is shown for Pembrokeshire: comparable figures start in the year ending March 2025, because too many of the force's crimes in the year ending March 2024 were not assigned to a district.

Offences recorded in Pembrokeshire, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,764 offences (19% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for stalking and harassment (1.3 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.13 times), vehicle offences (0.17 times) and bicycle theft (0.29 times).

The largest rises on the year were in rape (+46%) and bicycle theft (+41%). The largest falls were in trafficking of drugs (−36%) and non-residential burglary (−27%). 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).

Districts in the Dyfed-Powys Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 4 districts in the Dyfed-Powys Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Pembrokeshire 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 Pembrokeshire; the highest is Ceredigion (91.1 per 1,000) and the lowest Torridge (55.1).

Of the 76 areas within Pembrokeshire, Haverfordwest: Castle had the highest crime rate (341.5 per 1,000) and Llangwm the lowest (21.4), 16 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 21% of the crime recorded in Pembrokeshire over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (749).

Of the 10,096 crimes in Pembrokeshire with a recorded outcome, 19% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 3.5% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,239 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Pembrokeshire has an estimated population of 125,761 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has an older population (27%, against 19%), fewer students (4.8%, against 7.9%) and more retired residents (30%, against 22%). On the Wales WIMD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Pembrokeshire 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.