Crime in South Norfolk: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (3,289), anti-social behaviour (885) and criminal damage and arson (705) made up 67% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 288th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lowest tenth.

Recorded crime in South Norfolk peaked in the year to August 2022 (8,014 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2018 (6,388). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 15%, 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 robbery (90% below) and theft from the person (88% below) were well below it. On the year before, theft from the person rose from 22 to 29 and drugs rose from 116 to 135, while shoplifting fell from 644 to 498 and vehicle crime fell from 172 to 137.

What each category covers: crime categories.

6,192 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in South Norfolk in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 41.7 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 1% on the year ending March 2025 (6,262), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, South Norfolk had the 8th 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 Norfolk Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.1% 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 South Norfolk is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in South Norfolk, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,248 offences (20% of the total). No category with at least 20 offences had a rate a quarter or more above the England and Wales rate. Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.08 times), trafficking of drugs (0.20 times) and vehicle offences (0.22 times).

The largest rises on the year were in bicycle theft (+58%) and rape (+37%). The largest falls were in non-residential burglary (−17%) and other theft offences (−15%). 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 South Norfolk 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. South Norfolk'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 Norfolk Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 7 districts in the Norfolk Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, South Norfolk had the 2nd 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.

6 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than South Norfolk; the highest is Norwich district (124.7 per 1,000) and the lowest Broadland (39.8).

Of the 52 areas within South Norfolk, South Wymondham had the highest crime rate (104.7 per 1,000) and Tasburgh the lowest (9.1), 12 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 23% of the crime recorded in South Norfolk over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Police Station” (309).

Of the 6,436 crimes in South Norfolk with a recorded outcome, 19% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 5.5% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 885 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

South Norfolk has an estimated population of 148,448 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (10%, against 23%), fewer students (4.7%, against 7.9%) and less private renting (14%, against 20%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up South Norfolk average decile 6.9 (1 = most deprived), less 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.