Homicides at lowest level in nearly 50 years, ONS says

Homicides have fallen to their lowest level for nearly 50 years across England and Wales, official statistics show.

There were 499 victims of murder, manslaughter and infanticide in the year to September, according to crime statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It is the lowest number since 1977 and a 7% fall on the previous year, largely due to a drop in the number of people killed by knives - 174, down 23%.

Crimes with weapons also continued a downward trend. Knife crime offences were down by 9% to 50,430 and firearms offences fell by 9% to just under 5,000, their lowest since 2003.

The statistics are split into police recorded crime and a crime survey of people's experiences of crime.

The broader trends in violent crime in the survey, which is of adults aged over 16, were more flat. The ONS estimates there were around 1.1m incidents of violent crime, ranging from threats and jostling to assault and murder, which was little changed on the previous year.

The number of robbery offences remained broadly similar at 82,678 but shoplifting increased by 5%, from 492,660 offences the previous year to 519,381.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government was "having real success" tackling crime.

But she added: "The crimes that tear at the fabric of communities, like shop theft and shop robbery, continue to rise and we must do more."

She said 13,000 more neighbourhood officers were being put on the beat and reforms set out earlier this week would mean "local forces will be focused on policing their area and protecting their communities".

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp welcomed the reduction in homicides but added: "What concerns me in these figures is that shoplifting is up another 5% to record levels."

The number of police recorded sexual offences also increased by 8% on the previous year, with 214,816 recorded in the year to the end of September 2025 compared with 198,373 the previous year.

Philp said that "women are less safe under Labour" but Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips said an increased reporting of sexual offences was to be welcomed.

"The vast majority of sexual crimes go unreported," she said.

"Increased reporting means increased confidence of women and girls in coming forward."

ONS spokesperson Billy Gazard said: "The majority of police forces have seen knife crime fall in the past year, including the larger urban Greater Manchester, Metropolitan and West Midlands areas.

"This is supported by NHS data, which continue to show a decrease in hospital admissions for assault by a sharp object."

The data comes after figures published by the Metropolitan Police earlier this month showed homicides in the capital had dropped to the lowest level in more than a decade.

The force said 97 homicides were recorded in 2025, the lowest figure since 2014, at a rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people, lower than New York (2.8), Berlin (3.2) and Milan (1.6).

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that while "every murder is a tragedy", fewer families had been "shattered" by violence.

The figures for England and Wales reflect a similar trend in Scotland.

Statistics released by the Scottish government in October showed there were 45 victims of homicide in 2024-25, 12 fewer than the previous year and the lowest level for almost 50 years.

Manuel Eisner, professor of criminology at Cambridge University, said a similar downward trend had been seen across Europe and the US and cited a number of contributing factors.

He said changes in the effectiveness of policing and social control, including surveillance, have changed the chances that criminals are held responsible.

Eisner said: "Overall, we are seeing an increasing aversion to violence across society and an improved control of violent behaviour."