Crime in Southwark district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (10,216), anti-social behaviour (9,577) and theft from the person (7,159) made up 55% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 11th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest tenth.

Recorded crime in Southwark district peaked in the year to August 2025 (49,531 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2022 (42,369). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 16%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Southwark district recorded notably more theft from the person (13.5 times the national rate), robbery (4.7 times the national rate) and bicycle theft (4.4 times the national rate), and notably less other crime (40% below) and criminal damage and arson (39% below). On the year before, possession of weapons rose from 255 to 334, while criminal damage and arson fell from 2,018 to 1,298.

What each category covers: crime categories.

38,013 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Southwark district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 120.8 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, Southwark district had the 13th 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 Metropolitan Police area in the year ending March 2026, 5.5% 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 Southwark district is an undercount.

No change on the year or longer series is given for Southwark district: comparable figures start in the year ending March 2026, because the share of crimes in the Metropolitan Police area not assigned to a district moved from 4.3% in the year ending March 2025 to 5.5% in the year ending March 2026, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Offences recorded in Southwark district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was theft from the person, with 6,459 offences (17% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for theft from the person (11.6 times the national rate), robbery of personal property (5.4 times the national rate) and bicycle theft (3.8 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for arson (0.45 times), miscellaneous crimes against society (0.61 times) and stalking and harassment (0.71 times).

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

Of the 32 districts in the Metropolitan Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Southwark district had the 5th 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.

3 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Southwark district; the highest is City of London (639.5 per 1,000) and the lowest Wandsworth district (98.4).

Of the 24 areas within Southwark district, Borough & Bankside had the highest crime rate (455.7 per 1,000) and Peckham Rye the lowest (56.0), 8 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 18% of the crime recorded in Southwark district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Supermarket” (2,033).

Of the 39,718 crimes in Southwark district with a recorded outcome, 59% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.5% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 9,577 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Southwark district has an estimated population of 314,786 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more households without a car (60%, against 23%), more social housing (40%, against 17%) and more residents with Level 4 qualifications or above (55%, against 34%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Southwark 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.