Crime in Wirral: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (11,029), anti-social behaviour (3,184) and public order (2,433) made up 64% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 183rd of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Wirral peaked in the year to August 2022 (35,056 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2024 (25,729). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 19%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Wirral recorded notably more drugs (29% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (89% below) and vehicle crime (61% below). On the year before, shoplifting rose from 1,148 to 1,755 and theft from the person rose from 50 to 61, while drugs fell from 1,770 to 1,385 and bicycle theft fell from 178 to 146.

What each category covers: crime categories.

23,378 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Wirral in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 71.1 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was up 4% on the year ending March 2025 (22,420), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Wirral had the 129th 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).

Offences recorded in Wirral, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 4,485 offences (19% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for possession of drugs (1.6 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.08 times), non-residential burglary (0.41 times) and vehicle offences (0.44 times).

The largest rises on the year were in residential burglary (+19%) and miscellaneous crimes against society (+13%). The largest falls were in trafficking of drugs (−16%) and non-residential burglary (−13%). 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 Wirral 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. Wirral's rate was above the England and Wales rate in 3 of those 14 years and below it in 11. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

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

Of the 5 districts in the Merseyside Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Wirral had the 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.

5 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Wirral; the highest is Liverpool district (136.2 per 1,000) and the lowest West Lancashire (61.8).

Of the 31 areas within Wirral, Birkenhead and Tranmere had the highest crime rate (254.1 per 1,000) and Meols the lowest (23.3), 11 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 17% of the crime recorded in Wirral over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (1,210).

Of the 22,845 crimes in Wirral with a recorded outcome, 27% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 7.0% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 3,184 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Wirral has an estimated population of 328,873 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer students (5.8%, against 7.9%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Wirral average decile 5.0 (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.