Crime in South Tyneside: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (4,960), anti-social behaviour (3,030) and shoplifting (2,124) made up 65% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 90th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the upper half.

The year to August 2026 had the least recorded crime in South Tyneside of any year here (15,579 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, South Tyneside recorded notably more other crime (71% above the national rate), shoplifting (66% above the national rate) and criminal damage and arson (48% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (74% below) and vehicle crime (46% below). On the year before, robbery rose from 141 to 163, while drugs fell from 471 to 268 and possession of weapons fell from 177 to 116.

What each category covers: crime categories.

14,631 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in South Tyneside in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 96.6 per 1,000 residents, higher than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, South Tyneside had the 55th 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 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 South Tyneside is a slight undercount.

No change on the year or longer series is given for South Tyneside: 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 South Tyneside, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 2,202 offences (15% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for arson (3.1 times the national rate), shoplifting (1.6 times the national rate) and robbery of business property (1.6 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.18 times), robbery of personal property (0.58 times) and possession of drugs (0.63 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, South Tyneside had the 2nd 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.

4 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than South Tyneside; the highest is Hartlepool district (163.6 per 1,000) and the lowest Northumberland (78.0).

Of the 25 areas within South Tyneside, Beacon and Bents had the highest crime rate (252.2 per 1,000) and Cleadon the lowest (27.2), 9 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 21% of the crime recorded in South Tyneside over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (841).

Of the 12,549 crimes in South Tyneside with a recorded outcome, 38% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 1.0% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 3,030 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

South Tyneside has an estimated population of 151,393 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more social housing (30%, against 17%), more households without a car (33%, against 23%) and less private renting (13%, against 20%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up South Tyneside average decile 3.7 (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.