Crime in Portsmouth district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (10,440), shoplifting (3,072) and anti-social behaviour (2,995) made up 62% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 40th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest quarter.

Recorded crime in Portsmouth district peaked in the year to August 2018 (32,504 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2024 (26,654). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 18%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Portsmouth district recorded notably more bicycle theft (2.4 times the national rate), possession of weapons (85% above the national rate) and shoplifting (70% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (50% below) and burglary (22% below). On the year before, robbery rose from 250 to 399 and vehicle crime rose from 1,007 to 1,382, while burglary fell from 712 to 597.

What each category covers: crime categories.

24,163 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Portsmouth district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 112.7 per 1,000 residents, higher than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 1% on the year ending March 2025 (24,502), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Portsmouth district had the 23rd 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 Portsmouth district is an undercount.

Offences recorded in Portsmouth district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 3,863 offences (16% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for bicycle theft (2.6 times the national rate), robbery of business property (1.9 times the national rate) and possession of weapons (1.9 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.47 times) and arson (0.56 times).

The largest rises on the year were in vehicle offences (+22%) and bicycle theft (+21%). The largest falls were in arson (−19%) and violence with injury (−11%). 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 Portsmouth district 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. Portsmouth district's rate was above 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, Portsmouth district had the 2nd 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.

1 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Portsmouth district; the highest is Southampton district (133.7 per 1,000) and the lowest Fareham district (61.1).

Of the 15 areas within Portsmouth district, Charles Dickens had the highest crime rate (255.5 per 1,000) and Drayton and Farlington the lowest (43.0), 6 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 21% of the crime recorded in Portsmouth district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Supermarket” (1,633).

Of the 23,794 crimes in Portsmouth district with a recorded outcome, 33% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 5.6% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 2,995 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Portsmouth district has an estimated population of 214,321 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more students (13.8%, against 7.9%), more private renting (29%, against 20%) and more households without a car (30%, against 23%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Portsmouth district average decile 4.5 (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.